Daily success report

Here I will give myself a daily performance score in the following areas.  Devotional (1 means I had no dedicated time with God - 5 means I posted a thoughtful blog), Exercise (1 means I did nothing, 5 means I did my daily 9 or the 30 day shred and had some activity of at least 15 minutes). TU is a measure of how well I used my time.  TR is traction - a daily exercise I have committed to for getting my neck alignment corrected.

Date         Dev     Ex     Diet    TU   TR  Total
11/6           5        3        3        5      5      21
11/5           4        3        4        5      5      21
11/4           3        3        5        5      5      21
11/3           3        5        5        5      4      22
11/2           3        5        4        5      3      20
11/1           5        5        5        5      2      22
10/21         5        5        4        5      5      24
9/12           5        5        5        5      5      25
9/11           5        4        3        5      5      22
9/10           5        5        4        5      5      24
9/9             3        4        4        5      5      21
9/8             5        4        4        5      5      23
9/7             5        5        3        5      5      22
8/9             5        4        3        5      5      22    (too many cookies at Al's memorial service)
8/8             5        3        4        5      5      22
8/7             5        4        5        5      5      24
8/6             5        4        4        5      5      23
7/14           5        5        5        5      5      25!!
7/13           5        3        3        5      5      21
7/12           5        4        5        5      5      24
7/11           5        5        4        5      5      24
7/5             5
7/4             5        2        3        3      2      15
7/3             2        2        4        4      5      17
6/27           5        4        4        4      5      22

6/26           2        5        4        4      2      17

6/14           5

6/13           2        3        2        4      5      16

6/12           2        4        3        3      5      17

6/9             4

6/8             2        2        3        3              10

6/7             2        4        3        4              13

5/17           2        3        3        4              12

5/16           5        4        3        2              14

Read More ->>

Isaiah 45:21-25

There is no other god besides me,

a righteous God and a Savior;

there is none besides me.

 “Turn to me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

 By myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

a word that shall not return:

‘To me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

are righteousness and strength;

to him shall come and be ashamed

all who were incensed against him.

 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

shall be justified and shall glory.”

This is the designated passage for this morning's communion service.  I find the description of our God thrilling.  He is righteous and a Savior.  The value of the recipient of the salvation is in their relationship (the offspring of Israel).  I am confident that I fit in that family so I am blessed to be included.  I shall be justified and glory.  In Him are righteousness and strength.  What a terrific set of rewards.

Read More ->>

Psalm 45

This is very interesting psalm.  In the heading (which I believe is part of the inspired scripture) it is identified as a love song.  It is reminiscent of the Song of Solomon with the bridegroom described in majestic and godlike terms and the bride is a glorious princess.  As in many passages there are puzzles the confound - vs 16 says "In place of your fathers shall be your sons".  

This psalm also has a phrase that evokes an old song, Out of the Ivory Palaces"  That section of the psalm is messianic and the song picks up on that - "into a world of woe. Only His great eternal love made my Savior go."

Verse 4 resonates with me - "In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness."

Those three are great causes for us to embrace and it is a great comfort and relief to know that we have majestic victory in our scope.

Read More ->>

Psalm 23

As one of the most familiar passages in all of English literature, this psalm has as it primary focus the trust that we as sheep can have in God our shepherd.  Much has been written about the stupidity of sheep and what an appropriate image that is of us.  We (I) frequently fail to follow the simplest directions and consequently end up in great trouble of our own making.  Still, God continues to provide all the resources that we need (protection, food, shelter and direction).

One of my current continuing concerns it the desire for spiritual victory.  The psalm touches on that as well when it say, "You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies."  God provides everything we need for successful living.  Praise His Holy Name.

Read More ->>

Psalm 22

This messianic psalm starts off with "My God, my God; why have you forsaken me?".  Much of the chapter deals with the distress and suffering and is clearly a prophetic reference to Jesus.  I was, however, struck with the section in verses 22-26 - in summary, the idea is "You rescued me.  Therefore I will praise you in the congregation."  The observation that David refers to the place of praise as being in the congregation felt to me like an emphasis on the idea of community as a primary context for praising him.  I personally have a tendency toward isolation.  That is my comfort zone.  In most cases I prefer to be alone.  Even in a crowd, I have to stretch myself to engage in conversation.  This psalm reminds me that isolation is not a healthy place and the I need to seek community as much as I can.

Read More ->>

Psalm 36

The middle of this psalm provides the text of a 3rd Day song, "Your Love, O Lord".  That was ringing in my mind as I read about the amazing greatness of His love for us.  Even though I usually feel like I don't deserve it, He still pours it all over me.  Another wonderful image of His provision is the everlasting river that we are invited to drink from and never thirst again.

Read More ->>