Fearfully and Wonderfully Made - part 3

Is there anything in your life you think God cannot see? 

Today we continue our series in Psalm 139.

Come boldly before the throne of grace my friend!   Our Heavenly Father, who knows us intimately, will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

As children of God, we walk in the Light of Christ, a light that will expose and reveal when we stray.  But thanks be to God who will bring us back to Him, with the joy of forgiveness and a growing love for our Savior who loves us so much, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  

Health tip/encouragement for today:

What is your go-to comfort (food, drink, entertainment, etc)?  

And what is your reason for going to it?

Transcript

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The Lord's eyes move to and fro throughout the whole earth, as it says in 2 Chronicles 16, verse 9. Anything in your life you are trying to hide from God? Let's jump right back into our study on Psalm 139. But first, for anyone new here, you may be wondering why are we having a Bible study in a health and wellness podcast? That is a very good question. Glad you asked. As we meditate and glean on God's infallible word, it is because of that that we take care of these bodies the Lord has given us. As we take care of our physical, ultimately we must remember to feed, nurture, and exercise our spiritual above all else. When that is cared for, everything below that will fall into place. Let us seek the Lord first, resting in his will, knowing he will accomplish all that concerns us in his perfect time and perfect way. So I hope that helps answer your wonderings. And with that, let's continue with our series titled Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. We will be looking at verses eleven to thirteen in Psalm 139 today. I'll read the three verses for us. If I say, Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to you, for you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. So let's start with verse eleven and I'll reread the verse. If I say, Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night. The root meaning for darkness here in verse twelve is observing secret actions. Let's read Job thirty four verses twenty two, and I'll include verse twenty one as well. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his steps. There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. We have no excuses to try, nor are we able to hide anything from the Lord. It is so clearly presented in this Psalm and throughout all of Scripture. His eyes move to and fro throughout the whole earth, as it says in Second Chronicles sixteen verse nine. Is there anything in your life you're thinking God cannot see? When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away. I've quoted this from Psalm thirty two in a previous episode, but it applies again as we think about this. We will suffer the consequences of hidden sins when we attempt to justify ourselves and sweep it under a rug. I like how one of our pastors put it. A lumpy rug is hard to ignore. It even becomes a hazard to others, causing them to trip and sometimes fall. May we not be a stumbling block to our fellow believers. I'd like to encourage you to take heart, friend, and remember that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Everything is laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we must give an account. That's from Hebrews four. So let's not be afraid but come boldly before the throne of grace. We will receive grace and mercy and help in time of need. Let's continue to verse twelve and I'll reread it for us. Even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to you. The Lord is the true light of the world. Darkness and light are alike to you. In John eight, verse twelve, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Let's look at some verses in Ephesians five that speak about light and darkness. It is so beautiful to see these connections in Scripture. We as believers in the Lord Jesus are children of the true light, and we are to walk as children of light, for the fruit of light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians five verse nine. Are we children of light? Which list in this portion of Ephesians describes your life? Is it the one I just quoted, as we seek God's will, humbly walking with him, receiving his forgiveness when we fail? No one is excluded from failure. Or does your life rather match more to verses three and four, where Paul writes that these things must not even be named among you, and those being immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting. As we walk in the Spirit, God will show us if we have these sins of the flesh in our lives, and has promised to cleanse us from them. What amazing grace our Lord and Savior bestows upon us. And lastly, let's look at verse thirteen. Now reread it. For you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. Even when we were the size of a pencil head, my frame was not hidden from you. God formed our inward parts, which literally means kidneys. The amazing journey of that little one's life in its mother's womb before entering the world is absolutely miraculous. A miracle that only God can accomplish. That little life at the moment of conception already had every single blueprint, if you will, for what color his or her eyes would be, tall or short, boy or girl, the list goes on and on. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. As we look around us, sadly because of sin, we see brokenness, handicaps, deformities, chronic illness and disease. Does God love those individuals any less? Are they excluded from being fearfully and wonderfully made? Absolutely not. There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still, said Corytenboom. No matter how deep the valley is that someone faces, God's love for them never runs dry, never ceases. May we imitate Christ in showing that love to everyone we meet, whether they are normal people or have disabilities, their soul is just as precious as yours. No matter how outwardly different they may appear, even just a smile can bring such a wonderful love and joy into their lives. Remember Jesus and how he cared for the sick, for the dying, the lame, the blind, the deaf. He touched the leper. He was not afraid. Let's imitate Christ, remembering that no greater love hath no man than this, that he laid down his life for his friends. That doesn't always mean our literal lives, which it can mean dying for someone else literally, but it could also mean giving up our reputation, our cleanliness. What are we willing to lose? I'm sure many of you have heard the quote by Jim Elliot that says He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain which he cannot lose. Remember who's watching? It's the Lord Jesus. When we, as his children, finally walk through those gates and stand before him, those precious words that he'll say Well done, good and faithful servant. Do you want to hear those words with me? It takes humility, laying aside ourselves, and believe me, that's not easy. But the reward in heaven will be worth it all. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So for this week's little health tip and encouragement is another question for you all to think about this week and moving forward. It's something I've been thinking about lately and since listening to a few health podcasts and simply just learning about health and wellness, and it's all related to our relationship with the Lord and what's our go-to when we're feeling low or need a pick me up or anything in any mood we may be going through. So my question is, what is your go-to comfort food or drink? And to go along with that question, what is your reason for going to that food or drink to be your comfort? And I'm not saying whatsoever that to never enjoy what God has given us to enjoy. There are so many wonderful foods and drinks that God has created for us to enjoy, and the enjoyment of making something special for enjoyment and to share. Don't get me wrong. This is for our personal walk with the Lord and those around us. When we're feeling low and sad, do we go to say a bag of chips to have something to crunch on? When we're feeling very, very tired and very low energy, do we go and grab that super strong espresso coffee? Again, all this I'm speaking to myself and I've been thinking about okay, what are the things I automatically go to when I feel like I need some little spark of delight in my day? Another thing to wonder about is is it becoming an idol in my life? Am I going to that before I'm going to the Lord? And again, knowing that balance as God has blessed us and given us those foods, those supplements, that even that coffee, to bring some joy into our day. But are we going to the Lord first? Are we praying and seeking Hims like Lord? I'm feeling depressed today. I feel this heaviness. Please help me to seek you first, to remember your promises and to cling to them, even though I don't have the strength for today. But with you all things are possible. So let's think about that this week and take note of when you have that urge to go grab that coffee or grab that bowl of ice cream or grab those chips or whatever it is. Stop for a moment and think, why am I doing this? Do I really need that? Or do I need to just go sit down for two minutes and pray? Read my Bible, read a psalm, and as we pray, God will reveal those things in our lives that we desire to put Him first in. And as always, as I close the podcast for today, I love to read the last verse in the book of Jude. But today and moving forward, I would like to include verse 24 as well. We've been talking a lot about searching ourselves and asking the Lord, what do we need to remove from our lives? What's coming ahead of the Lord? And here in verse 24 is a beautiful promise that I pray will encourage you as we move forward, knowing that we'll make mistakes, we'll stumble, but we'll get up again because God is with us, he'll never leave nor forsake us. So let's close with these two verses from the book of Jude. Now to him, the Lord Jesus, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. And until next time, keep being in the Word and keep walking, and God bless you.