Psalm 32

Our church is going through a forty day study of Psalms for the Lenten season. Our staff have been taking turns writing brief devotionals to along with the day's psalm, and each day a new devo arrives in our email in-boxes. It's a great way to start the day and hear new perspectives from our talented staff. Anyway, Jason asked to contribute a devotional, and I drew Psalm 32. Thought I'd share.


Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, I thank you that you want us to live in joy and not sorrow, that you want us to be set free from sin, guilt and shame, and that you show us your plan for an abundant life in your Word. As we meditate on your Word today, may it come alive in our hearts and fill us with gladness. Amen.

Psalm 32
1 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the Lord." And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

Devotional
Sin and I have had an on again, off again relationship for quite some time now. Sometimes I am able to recognize my sinful ways, lay them down, look to the throne of grace, and move on. Sometimes I'm able to deflect those various temptations to sin so easily - I would almost be prideful about it if pride weren't itself a sin. Other times, I seem to have no resistance at all. An opportunity to sin presents itself and there I go, head first into the mess. And in other, harder times, the sin seems to latch itself on to me, virtually refusing to let me confess it, let it go, and receive the Lord's merciful forgiveness.

Of all the many things we have to praise God for, surely one of the most tremendous is His forgiveness of our sins. After all, this is why He gave His one and only Son for us! That we might not perish, or as it says in verses 3 and 4, that our bodies might not waste away as we groan all day long and our strength evaporates. We've all been on the other side of sin, and know the weight we can carry day after day as we wallow in the muck of sinfulness and disobedience. Isn't it good to remember that is not God's desire for us at all? He wants us to be set free from that, to shake that off, don't look back, and let him direct us back to his (best!) pathway for our lives.

One of my prayers for this new year of my life (my 32nd birthday was just a few days ago) is to welcome more joy into my life - to dwell in the amazing truths of God's love, his faithfulness, his grace, and the basic realization that life is good simply because he is at work in it. And here is the perfect example of a source of joyfulness in verses 1 and 2: Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! 2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

With a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old in our house, we are well-versed in the complete works of Walt Disney. Do you remember the scene at the end of Aladdin when the Genie gets set free? "I'm free! I'm free!" the Genie exclaims as he whoops, hollers, and whizzes through the cosmos. That's the feeling God wants us to have when we do as the psalmist did in verse 5: 5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the Lord." And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone!

Closing Prayer
Praise you Lord, that you forgave me and all my guilt is gone! I couldn't do it on my own, but you could, and you did, because your love for me was greater than my sin. Thank you for your unfailing love and for your constant guidance. Help me always to turn to you; help me never to try to hide my guilt. Thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. May we trust you more and more, and rely on our own strength less and less, each day. Amen.

Home with the Hills

Today I'm going to delve into the more traditional blog entry - an update on our lives - as opposed to the personal essay I tend to favor. Let me start with this topic sentence: Geez, is it busy around here!

In the past ten days - we have had a visit from Jason's parents, hosted a second birthday party, built a fence, found a puppy, nursed a sick boy with serious tummy troubles, gone to Bible study, checked out Owasso's newest department store, and had a 2 1/2 hour salon appointment, bought puppy supplies, attended the overnight district women's retreat, made the best punch on the planet for Beth's baby shower, and wrapped up the five-week Starting Point class. Whoo!

Jason said recently that we know our lives are going to be hectic right now, and we need just to embrace the busyness. He's right. Even with all this going on, we're still doing great. We're feeling good (except for Jake, but he's better now and had a great couple of sick days with Nana), resting well, and having fun.

I think the rest of March looks to be pretty unscheduled, which is a good thing since the arrival of Lucy the Puppy on Friday is going to demand a lot of our attention. Next we look forward to more family birthdays, with mine on the 26th (here I come, year 32!) and Jacob's on the 31st -- the big 5.

Happy to be home...
Jessica

Love Me Some Grandparents

My Facebook status earlier today said "Grandparents are a great invention." Jason's parents have been here this weekend and they have been a welcome addition. I have an increasing appreciation for cultures where multi-generational families live together in one home, or at least in adjoining grass huts. Not that I'd want to make a permanent arrangement of it, but occasionally it is just great to have some on-site helpers.

Papa & Nana arrived Friday afternoon and baby-sat the kids so that Jason and I could go to an awesome worship night at the HOP [House of Prayer, for the non-Family Churchers out there]. Then they helped Saturday morning prepping for and celebrating in Caitie's birthday party. On Sunday they got the kids ready and brought them to church so that Jason & I could go early. Nana even kept an eye on Jake so I could take a Sunday afternoon nap! Not to mention the dinner-making, laundry-folding, trash-removing and kid-entertaining that's taken place.

And of course, there's the Big Project, much documented by both Jason and myself, the fence-building that Jason's dad is helping him with. It's saving us so much in both time and money. They'll be here through Wednesday so should come very close to finishing it up.

I was never that close to my own grandparents. They were older, lived further away, and in the case of my mom's parents, had eight other grandkids to occupy them. So, it's great to see my children developing these special relationships with their Nana & Papa.

All hail the grandparents! You rock!