Psalm 37:23

²³ The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives.

New Living Translation

I have been comforted by the concept expressed in this passage the last couple of days. Perhaps this is not the most important crisis in life, and many people think it is silly, but I have been greatly saddened over the loss of my cat, Snowball. He has been my friend and companion for over 10 years.

There was a special bond between us. He was very sick when we got him as a kitten, and I worked hard to keep him alive. The struggle went on for a couple months, as he fought an infection with the intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia.

He was never a beautiful cat to look at, but he was my baby. He woke me up at 5 am when he was a kitten by licking my eyelids. Over the years, we developed a bedtime ritual. He started out lying on my chest, purring and enjoying my scratching him beneath his chin. As I was ready to fall asleep, he moved down to my feet, being wise enough to not actually touch me - I can't sleep if anyone is touching me. Early in the morning, about half an hour before I had to get up, he would once again lay on my chest and purr.

Snowball had to be put down on Tuesday, because he was very sick with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus - the kitty version of AIDS. It has been very lonely without him. I rarely cried, but Tuesday morning, I held him in the vet's office for 20 minutes, unable to stop the flow of tears.

He was only a cat. He was not one of my children, or my husband, or any human friend. But still, he was an important part of my life. And God saw my grief. How I felt mattered to Him.

That speaks more to me about the character of God than hearing about His power or might. His compassion, and His involvement in the day to day hurts, trials, and victories of life mean more to me than His position as Ruler of the Universe. God cares about me. He cared about Snowball, because I cared about him. God cares about my sadness.

A God who is that personal, that compassionate and loving, is a God I can trust my entire life to.

Matthew 8:23-27

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

New Living Translation

I was listening to a podcast by Pastor Judah Smith from The City Church in Seattle this afternoon, and he was preaching from this passage. He said something that really caught my attention, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

He said that after the disciples saw Jesus calm the storm, they were in awe of Jesus and what He was able to do. Before that, these same men were in awe of the storm.

The storms in life steal our awe, according to Pastor Smith. He said that we focus our attention on the storm, on our circumstances, and this makes the storm the most important thing in our life. In essence, we worship these storms.

I have been struck with the reality of this statement. How many times have I found myself obsessing over the trials and tribulations that life brings? I never before thought of that obsession as being a form of worship.

While Jesus was napping in the boat, the disciples were completely focused in on the storm. They believed that it was the most powerful force in their presence. Because of this error, they were consumed with fear.

Jesus scolded them for having so little faith, not because they found the storm frightening. He scolded them because they focused on the storm, seeing it as the ultimate power, instead of focusing on Jesus, and knowing that He was stronger than any storm.

Lord, please help me to keep my focus on You. I can't ignore the storms in life. It would be insanity to pretend they don't exist. But they are not stronger or bigger or more powerful than You. Help me to keep my perspective straight, and to worship only You.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God.

New Living Translation

We have such great promises in scripture. Promises of love, provision, protection, and eternal life. Paul taught that these great promises should inspire us to have great fear (or awe) of God.

And this awe should inspire us to do all we can to please Him. This will require effort, as we work to cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.

Intention is required. Cleansing isn't automatic. We have to ask for it, seek it, ask God to search us, and show us what is defiling. That part is important, because there are often things that are sinful that we are reluctant to label as such.

Working toward complete purity isn't about gritting our teeth and trying to keep all the rules. It is about asking God to reveal truth, and then submitting to His cleansing when He shows us what He wants to change.

1 Peter 1:13-16

13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ. 14 Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be his children—is holy. 16 For he himself has said, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

New Living Translation

This is really pretty clear. God is holy. He is too holy to be in the presence of sin. His very presence consumes impurity, like a fire. So when we are made God's children, and brought into His presence, He cleanses us. And we are to do our best to stay clean.

It is so easy to just accept the forgiveness He offers, and not make an attempt to life a holy life. But that isn't the way it is supposed to work. Peter is telling us not to slip back into our old habits, attitudes, or lifestyle.

We may not have understood before just how sinful and destructive those things were. But now we know, because we have seen that they were serious enough for Christ to have to suffer and die for them. God doesn't take sin lightly. Neither should we.

Psalm 139

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

you are still with me!

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

New Living Translation

I know I have used this passage before, in a previous entry. But it just seems so appropriate today. This is my 45th birthday. It seems appropriate to remember with awe that I was created by God, a unique individual put together exactly as He saw fit.

His creative energies did not stop with my birth. For the past 45 years, God has been working to guide me, teach me, and mold me into the woman He wants me to be.

It is such an awesome thing, to think that God is so real and active in our lives. What we are becoming matters so very much to Him! We are precious to Him. He thinks about us constantly, and is concerned with all of the tiny details of our lives. He knows that all of those little things adds up to the totality of our character.

Paul says in Philippians 1:6, " And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Thank You, Lord, for being so personally involved in my life. That is the greatest birthday gift I could ever receive!

Psalm 19:12-14

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep me from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. 14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

New Living Translation

The desire to be holy is so beautifully expressed in this Psalm. The author had a desire to have God search his heart, his attitudes, his thoughts, his actions, and show him anything that was sinful or displeasing to Him.

He also asked that all that he does, what he says, even what he thinks, would be pleasing to God.

I think it takes great courage to have an attitude like that. On the surface it sounds so pious and nice. But think about what could happen if God actually DID this!

If God were to search my heart now, what would He find? How much pride, arrogance, resentment, and greed would He uproot? I know they are there but honestly, I'd rather avoid it.

It isn't even so much because I want to hang on to these things. I really do want them all to go. But rather, it is that I'm so ashamed they exist, I want to hide them, pretend they are not there.

The problem is, they ARE there. And pretending they aren't won't make them any less real. In fact, ignoring them generally allows them to take over. I can't explain why, but I have learned from experience that when I pretend a sinful attitude doesn't exist, instead of it shrinking and becoming invisible, it seems to grow. Before long it is controlling me. What was once a small, impure thought is suddenly a stronghold that the enemy uses quite effectively against me.

I want to have the attitude that David had. I want to let God search my heart, and to purify all of the unclean thoughts and attitudes that He discovers. I want God to help me avoid unintentional sin as well as intentional sins. I want to be so cleansed by Him that all of my words, all of my thoughts, and all of my actions are pleasing to Him.

Lord, search me and cleanse me!