"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." - Psalm 45:7 (emphasis added)
I have poured over this verse for quite some time now, asking the Holy Spirit to give me understanding. Over the past few weeks of reflecting and meditating on these simple yet divine words, I have come to LOVE this small piece of scripture. It is so packed with meaning and practical application.
First of all, what is righteousness? In the back of my Bible, it defines it as, "a state of being perfect, without sin." It also states that it is an attribute of God (Psalm 7), and it is the goal of Christian life (1 Timothy 6:11)- to be made righteous through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Only God alone is righteous, and I have no hope of being right before the Lord without Him. I am spiritually dead without Jesus Christ - without Him, I have no way of being made spiritually alive. I owe Him everything.
I believe that Psalm 45 is talking about Jesus, our God and our King. In verse 7, the psalmist is praising this king for loving righteousness. Jesus loves what is perfect, what is blameless. That means that Jesus loves God, for God is without sin and blameless. The verse goes on to say that the king hates wickedness. What a strong word! Jesus can have a pure and perfect hatred of wickedness, because it is the antithesis of what He loves most. His heart is drawn to perfection and not toward evil things.
What is the result of all of this? The word "therefore" is quite a beautiful one. It means that something happens because our King loves righteousness and hates wickedness. It states that God has set him above his companions - no one can contend with Jesus. He is distinct and higher than anything and anyone in this world. My soul can be at rest knowing that nothing can be higher than my Savior. How does God do this? By anointing him with the oil of joy.
So...the big question: How am I supposed to apply this? (hang around me long enough and you'll know that I don't like studying anything unless I can apply it). If I am supposedly being transformed to the likeness of my God (2 Cor. 3:18), then how can I use what I know about this verse to prompt me to emulate my Savior? First of all, I need to ask myself if I truly love righteousness and hate wickedness. I think it's hard for many of us to completely hate wickedness because of our sinful nature - let's face it, we all give in to wickedness/sin once in a while. Our hearts wander away from true righteousness. Every morning, I need God's grace to help me to hate what is wicked - to hate pride, to hate lust, to hate envy, immorality, unedifying language, laziness, unforgiveness, injustice, corrupt thinking, etc. I need to learn how to truly have a pure hatred toward these things to the point that they don't even tempt me anymore. I need the Lord to teach me to love what is righteous - to love my God properly, to love forgiveness, mercy, grace, understanding, wisdom, humility, integrity, kindness, justice, sacrifice, giving, etc.
The promise of what is to come from loving righteousness and hating wickedness is a sweet one. The oil of joy awaits me! I think that so many people in this world look for joy in the wrong places and end up finding the opposite of joy. Real joy is what sets us apart from our companions. True joy comes from loving the Lord and everything that He stands for.
Man, I love scripture.
Love, Tif
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
A prayer.
"O Majesty unspeakable, my soul desires to behold Thee. I cry to Thee from the dust.
Yet when i inquire after Thy name is secret. Thou art hidden in the light which no man can approach unto. What Thou art cannot be thought or uttered, for Thy glory is ineffable.
Still, prophet and pslamist, apostle and saint have encouraged me to believe that I may in some measure know Thee. Therefore, I pray, whatever of Thyself Thou hast been pleased to disclose, help me to search out as treasure more precious than rubies or the merchandise of fine gold: for with Thee shall I live when the stars of twlight are no more and the heavens have vanished away and only Thou remainest.
Amen."
-A.W. Tozer, The knowledge of the Holy
Yet when i inquire after Thy name is secret. Thou art hidden in the light which no man can approach unto. What Thou art cannot be thought or uttered, for Thy glory is ineffable.
Still, prophet and pslamist, apostle and saint have encouraged me to believe that I may in some measure know Thee. Therefore, I pray, whatever of Thyself Thou hast been pleased to disclose, help me to search out as treasure more precious than rubies or the merchandise of fine gold: for with Thee shall I live when the stars of twlight are no more and the heavens have vanished away and only Thou remainest.
Amen."
-A.W. Tozer, The knowledge of the Holy
Saturday, March 1, 2008
I'm Hungry.
I listened to a speaker from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO last weekend and something he said has resonated within me the past week: He said that we need to HUNGER for the Lord...if we are not hungering for God, then something is wrong. Hunger should beget hunger..our hunger for God nees to be stronger everyday. He said that if we, ten years from now, look back and our hunger level has not increased, then something is drastically wrong and the Lord needs to unleash the fear of God upon us!
King David said:
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. -Psalm 63:1
Our savior, Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." -Matthew 5:6
Praise the Lord that this past week, I have found myself hungering and thirsting for more of God - more of His presence, more of his Word, more of His blessing, more of His teaching. It was incredible; everyday I found myself not being able to wait for class/work to be over - not so that I could hang out with people, not so that I could eat (haha) - but so that I could dive into God's word...so I could meet with Him and feel His presence. So I could take refuge in Him. And HOURS would go by! I would get lost in passages of scripture with the Holy Spirit guiding me to focus and remain in certain verses. The Holy Spirit would prompt me to remember God's promises and miracles in my life...AHH what a perfect feeling.
Many of my friends can tell you that I get a tad bit cranky and irritable when I'm hungry. Usually before I do anything that requires concentration or my best effort, I NEED to eat. If not, I get tired, snappy, and...ugh, I'm just not proud of myself when I get this way. Haha...well, I've found that I get this way when I'm spiritually hungry too. I notice that when I don't have a quiet time in the morning, I'm more prone to pride, more prone to criticize things, more prone to doubt God.
But God, in His infinite grace, has BLESSED me in this hunger. Everytime I get a new revelation about Jesus, I get MORE hungry to know more about Him. This week the Holy Spirit has been surprising me with Psalm 45. God has been showing me what it means that Jesus is "The most exellent of men"- what that means, what it means for me, how I should live differently with the knowledge that Jesus is the most exellent of men. It's incredible! (And that's just the first fragment of the 2nd verse.)
I love this type of hunger, because Jesus promises that I WILL be filled.
Love, Tif
King David said:
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. -Psalm 63:1
Our savior, Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." -Matthew 5:6
Praise the Lord that this past week, I have found myself hungering and thirsting for more of God - more of His presence, more of his Word, more of His blessing, more of His teaching. It was incredible; everyday I found myself not being able to wait for class/work to be over - not so that I could hang out with people, not so that I could eat (haha) - but so that I could dive into God's word...so I could meet with Him and feel His presence. So I could take refuge in Him. And HOURS would go by! I would get lost in passages of scripture with the Holy Spirit guiding me to focus and remain in certain verses. The Holy Spirit would prompt me to remember God's promises and miracles in my life...AHH what a perfect feeling.
Many of my friends can tell you that I get a tad bit cranky and irritable when I'm hungry. Usually before I do anything that requires concentration or my best effort, I NEED to eat. If not, I get tired, snappy, and...ugh, I'm just not proud of myself when I get this way. Haha...well, I've found that I get this way when I'm spiritually hungry too. I notice that when I don't have a quiet time in the morning, I'm more prone to pride, more prone to criticize things, more prone to doubt God.
But God, in His infinite grace, has BLESSED me in this hunger. Everytime I get a new revelation about Jesus, I get MORE hungry to know more about Him. This week the Holy Spirit has been surprising me with Psalm 45. God has been showing me what it means that Jesus is "The most exellent of men"- what that means, what it means for me, how I should live differently with the knowledge that Jesus is the most exellent of men. It's incredible! (And that's just the first fragment of the 2nd verse.)
I love this type of hunger, because Jesus promises that I WILL be filled.
Love, Tif
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Boasting.
Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord." -Jeremiah 9:23-24 (emphasis added)
How often do I get passionately excited about telling others about God? How many times do I come home and say, "Guess what the Lord showed me today?" How often are my words saturated with grace and overflowing with gratitude towards the Lord? How often do I truly understand how the gift of salvation is worth far more than anything I could ever imagine?
I wish I could say that I constantly boast and take pride in my Savior. Wake up Tiffany!
How often do I get passionately excited about telling others about God? How many times do I come home and say, "Guess what the Lord showed me today?" How often are my words saturated with grace and overflowing with gratitude towards the Lord? How often do I truly understand how the gift of salvation is worth far more than anything I could ever imagine?
I wish I could say that I constantly boast and take pride in my Savior. Wake up Tiffany!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
This is the DAY!
I woke up this morning with and incredibly profound verse on my lips:
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118: 24
The Lord has this way of hitting me hard in the face with the most simple and beautiful pieces of Scripture. For many of us who grew up in the church and were lucky enough to be born into Christian families, this verse is probably very familar - so familiar in fact, that you know the song and the hand motions that go along with it. And yet for most of my life, that is exactly what this verse was to me - a song. And that's it. Nothing more than a child's tune that brings me back to the days of Sunday School and Children's Church. The depth behind these words has never seeped into my soul until very recently.
This verse is both a proclamation of praise and an invitation for us to respond. The psalmist gladly announces that today - this very day that we are living and breathing in - is a day uniquely and purposefully created by the Lord God. I don' t know, but doesn't that just put a tingle of amazement in your heart? To know that today is not just another random day; that today is not just another day to get through or survive; that today has had a divine intention purposed for it from long ago! Well, once I've let that fact pervade my very bones, the psalmist calls me to respond to this gift of today: because God has gifted us with another day to serve Him on this earth, we ought to rejoice and be glad. This day is a gift from our Creator, entrusted to us to do something with. What am I going to do with this day? How can I use it to bring the most glory to my Savior? Honestly, none of us are guranteed a tomorrow - so let us purpose that with each new day that the Lord graciously allows us to have, that we will see it as a divine gift. Another chance to praise God.
So before you are tempted to look over your long "to-do" list for today, before you make that cup of tea or coffee, before you even think about going on your facebook or myspace...rejoice in the presence of our Lord, thanking Him for giving us another day to experience His sweet love.
Love, Tif
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118: 24
The Lord has this way of hitting me hard in the face with the most simple and beautiful pieces of Scripture. For many of us who grew up in the church and were lucky enough to be born into Christian families, this verse is probably very familar - so familiar in fact, that you know the song and the hand motions that go along with it. And yet for most of my life, that is exactly what this verse was to me - a song. And that's it. Nothing more than a child's tune that brings me back to the days of Sunday School and Children's Church. The depth behind these words has never seeped into my soul until very recently.
This verse is both a proclamation of praise and an invitation for us to respond. The psalmist gladly announces that today - this very day that we are living and breathing in - is a day uniquely and purposefully created by the Lord God. I don' t know, but doesn't that just put a tingle of amazement in your heart? To know that today is not just another random day; that today is not just another day to get through or survive; that today has had a divine intention purposed for it from long ago! Well, once I've let that fact pervade my very bones, the psalmist calls me to respond to this gift of today: because God has gifted us with another day to serve Him on this earth, we ought to rejoice and be glad. This day is a gift from our Creator, entrusted to us to do something with. What am I going to do with this day? How can I use it to bring the most glory to my Savior? Honestly, none of us are guranteed a tomorrow - so let us purpose that with each new day that the Lord graciously allows us to have, that we will see it as a divine gift. Another chance to praise God.
So before you are tempted to look over your long "to-do" list for today, before you make that cup of tea or coffee, before you even think about going on your facebook or myspace...rejoice in the presence of our Lord, thanking Him for giving us another day to experience His sweet love.
Love, Tif
Saturday, January 12, 2008
the FIRST one!
This blog is to document the evidences of grace that I've experienced in my life from Jesus, my Savior. Although I know that what I write here is simply a mere glimpse of God's glory, I hope you are encouraged nonetheless. :)
In the past couple months, God, in His abounding patience, has been drawing my attention to two things in particular: 1) That I am so ridiculously sinful. I am constantly convicted of how prideful I am, how I can let the slightest annoyance manifest itself in a slew of complaints, how scarily easy it is for me to not give the Lord the appreciation and the devotion He deserves. 2) The more I come to realize my sinful state, the more God has shown me how gracious He is for choosing me to be His child. I mean, considering the number of times in one day I need to ask for forgiveness, I honestly can't believe He still offers unconditional love.
I'm reading this book called Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. (It's an excellent read!) In his discussion on how to cultivate humility and weaken pride, he quotes another author, Charles Spurgeon:
"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should have never chosen Him: and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love." (Charles Spurgeon, "A Defense of Calvinism")
What a beautiful description of God's mercy! I'm thankful that God allowed me to recognize my sin, because then I can see a bit of the vastness between myself and my Savior...and in that, I can only boast in the Lord's grace. :)
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." -Jeremiah 31: 3
In the past couple months, God, in His abounding patience, has been drawing my attention to two things in particular: 1) That I am so ridiculously sinful. I am constantly convicted of how prideful I am, how I can let the slightest annoyance manifest itself in a slew of complaints, how scarily easy it is for me to not give the Lord the appreciation and the devotion He deserves. 2) The more I come to realize my sinful state, the more God has shown me how gracious He is for choosing me to be His child. I mean, considering the number of times in one day I need to ask for forgiveness, I honestly can't believe He still offers unconditional love.
I'm reading this book called Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. (It's an excellent read!) In his discussion on how to cultivate humility and weaken pride, he quotes another author, Charles Spurgeon:
"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should have never chosen Him: and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love." (Charles Spurgeon, "A Defense of Calvinism")
What a beautiful description of God's mercy! I'm thankful that God allowed me to recognize my sin, because then I can see a bit of the vastness between myself and my Savior...and in that, I can only boast in the Lord's grace. :)
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." -Jeremiah 31: 3
Love, Tif
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