Psalm 1

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1 remains one of my favorite psalms. I memorized it when I was young. It speaks clearly about recovery. I always wanted to picture myself as the well-watered tree. This seemed to be something far from my life until just recently.

Verse one speaks of a person whose life becomes more and more stagnant as he goes from “running the good race” to “walking in the counsel of the wicked”, and then “standing in the way of sinners” and finally to “sitting in the seat of mockers”.

Someday we may wake up, and find our lives at a standstill. No growth no joy. BUT there is recovery for that person.

What does it mean to be blessed? Blessed is an old fashioned word. Joy is a better word, and those of us who know what recovery is all about about know this joy for ourselves.

As we place our delight in the kingdom of God, and make it the place we dwell in both day and night, our lives get moving again. New life fills our veins and we start moving ahead again. New growth appears, and we are like the planted by the streams of water.

What it boils down to is choices. Life is a series of choices. We choose to do the things that our conscience tells us is right, or we choose to follow the urging of what might make us feel good even if it’s just for the moment. In the long run, when all of the marbles are counted, a joyful life comes from making the right choices.

Seek the Lord while you can. Find the new life that can come from recovery of your relationship with Him.

Psalm 145

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

1 [1] I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. [2]
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD ; your saints will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. [3]
14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD . Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

Since I have never lived in an earthly kingdom I don’t know if I can fully appreciate the opening verse where David calls God our King. However it very much reminds me of the ministry of Jesus since Jesus came to pronounce the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God must be full of grace and truth, and it is a place that we can choose to live. I know that since I have begun the process of embracing God’s grace and truth in my life I have known such joy in my life that it seems at times that it cannot be fully contained.

This website is an extension of that. I want to tell others of what the LORD has done for me. I want to share my experience strength and hope with others. I want to tell of the power of God’s mighty works.

My friend, the LORD is gracious and compassionate. As you learn to apply His grace and truth in your life, you too can experience the true joy that comes when your life has been transformed.

I encourage you on your journey to seek out God’s grace and truth in your life. Yes, it can be found through bible study and prayer, but there is so much more. Check our the Changes that Heal section of this Blog for more information, and keep coming back.

Psalm 13

Another Sunday morning has come and passed.

This Sunday we took a look at Psalm 13:

Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD , for he has been good to me.

If this doesn’t ring a bell with those of us familiar with recovery issues, I don’t know what does. It can seem like forever to us when we are stuck in a bad situation. We wrestle with our thoughts, desires, habits and actions.

I believe that placing our trust in God can mean bringing safe people into relationship with ourselves. Safe people who can be with us during bad times are like a healing medicine. May our God help us to be that medicine in other’s lives.

-Ron

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers ( and sisters ) live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Those of us from dysfunctional families know what it is like when brothers and sisters live together in dis-unity. Our calling is to be like this Psalm by bringing the healing first to our own lives and then help others find their healing.

When we share our experience, strength and hope, we become like the scented oil poured down on Aaron’s head. Other people can tell that we are somehow different and will want to come and hear what we have to share.

Persons from a dysfunctional background may not recognize the scent, or may even be put-off by it in some cases. But as we live Godly lives in front of them, they will see through our example that even though we are only human like they are, we have the strength and hope which can only come from a personal relationship with our higher power Jesus Christ.

The lives of many of those around us are singed by years of private hurts, habits and hang-ups. Those lives are crying out for moisture which many lives have never seen. Carole told me that a case came into her unit this past week where kids were in a very abusive family. They had no idea at all what it was like to be treated with love and respect. Their lives were so scorched by abuse, that the Social Worker assigned to the case was overwrought with empathy for the kids. There are many lives out there like that. They are longing to be “normal”, be they have no idea what normal is. As we share our lives with others, the healing that comes to families will be much like the dew falling on scorched and charred lives. This moisture can be soothing at first, and then can promote real growth.