Psalm 4: Tremble but don't sin

I want to learn to pray, so I'm reading the Psalms and praying through them. This is what I read in Psalm 4 this morning.

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have freed me from my troubles. Have pity on me, and hear my prayer!  You important people, how long are you going to insult my honor? How long are you going to love what is empty and seek what is a lie?  Selah  Know that the L ord  singles out godly people for himself. The L ord  hears me when I call to him.  Tremble and do not sin. Think about this on your bed and remain quiet.  Selah  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness by trusting the Lord .  Many are saying, “Who can show us anything good?” Let the light of your presence shine on us, O L ord .  You put more joy in my heart than when their grain and new wine increase.  I fall asleep in peace the moment I lie down because you alone, O L ord , enable me to live securely." Psalm 4

Lord, you are my righteousness. I have no righteousness of my own, only what you have given me in Christ Jesus. You have freed me from my troubles, yet I still desperately need you to show me mercy and hear my prayers. Unlike David, I don't have any important people insulting or attacking me. Thank you for that. And you know that I don't feel like I have a lot of "honor" to be insulted. If someone were to insult and attack me, I would probably deserve it. It is sad that so many of the world's important people are chasing that which is empty (fame, fortune, gratification of their urges). They have believed a lie. Lord, please wake them up to your reality.

Lord, you single out the godly for yourself. That sounds like the NT phrase "set apart" that is the root of the word "holy". The struggle I have is with the word "godly" because if I heard someone say "you who are godly please stand up", I would stay seated. I am not godly... or am I? I know that you chose me to be "holy and righteous before you" (Eph 1), so there must be some sense in which I am godly (god-like). When I look at myself I see all the ways I am not like Jesus, but hopefully there are some parts of my character that are Christlike, godly. Because I am your child, your "saint" you hear me when I call. I should call out to you more often.

"Tremble and do not sin." Thank you for this reminder Lord. When I feel stressed and worried that is when I fall into old patterns and sin. There are "triggers" that tempt me to sin. High stress and uncertainty is one of them. I need to learn better how to handle these negative emotions without falling into old patterns of sin. Instead of sinning I need to meditate and be quiet. Nighttime is a good time to do a little introspection. Negative emotions can also trigger me to call on you, to examine my heart, to allow you to "search me and know me and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Through trust in you I can offer you a good and acceptable sacrifice. Today Lord I offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you. So many are pessimistic. When I watch the news I feel like carrying a sign "Repent, the end is near." What I need is to experience your presence - may the light of your presence shine on me today. May it shine on our office, our workers, customers and the ladies we serve. Lord, you give me a joy that is beyond anything material goods can give, beyond any accolades that worldly accomplishments can offer. I fall asleep at night in peace knowing that you are my security. Wow! You give me your presence, your joy, your peace, your security and your righteousness. All of these are mine through my Lord Jesus. Thank you Father. Today I want to experience your presence. Thank you! Amen

I am sure that God is working in you

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

The Philippians must have felt pretty good when they read this sentence from Paul. He's saying "I can see that you are the real deal." He saw their partnership in the gospel and it assured him that God was indeed active and working in and among them.  

Paul didn't say this to all the churches. He told the Corinthians to test themselves to see if they were in the faith. He worried that the Galatians were being led away from the pure faith in Jesus. Not so the Philippians, they were 100% genuine work of God. 

Seeing God at work in the lives of disciples is what cranks the engine of a missionary/apostle. Americans (I'm raising my hand) almost always take this as a personal promise, and maybe that's okay, but I'm pretty sure that Paul meant it as an observation of what he saw God doing in the whole church at Philippi. They together were the real deal. He could see the evidence of the work of God among them. They were the good soil that produces fruit 30, 60, 100 fold. I am not talking numbers, though numbers may be part of it, I'm talkin "life", the life of Jesus being reproduced inside people. 

When I look at our church, Jubilee Int'l Filipino Fellowship, I see the "real deal". God has done an amazing work. Like the church at Philippi the preachers may have had mixed motives (Paul says some preach out of envy or just to tweak his nose while he was in jail).  My life has been so mixed up at times that only God could possibly sort out my motives to know what really drove me. Others like Pastors Jorge, Bolen and Ruel were much more single minded and God used them to establish a work of God that is growing from faith to faith.  It doesn't matter who planted or cultivated - God gave the growth. The life of the church comes from God; it is a work of God. AND he will finish what he started. God had a plan, a purpose for Philippi and the surrounding area and He always finishes what he starts. My desk has piles of 1/2 finished projects. Some of them I will finish and others I will finally put in the dustbin. God only starts projects that He intends to finish. He is almighty, lives outside of time, and is really really stubborn (determined). He does not take "No" for an answer.   I'm confidence that God is doing something special in JIFF. I can see the evidence of good soil. I'm not sure what the end game is, but I'm excited to watch his plan unfold.

On the micro, individual level, I see God working in my own life. There were many times when, if I were God, I would have given up and abandoned this project called "Allan". I would have wadded up the paper and thrown it into the bin. Sometimes I feel like God put me together, then said "no, wait a minute" then He completely disassembled me and put me back together again. I'm like a "factory refurbished machine". There were some (huge understatement) defects in my build, so he has dis-assembled me, to deal with the problems and is in the process of putting me back together. That's okay with me. I just want him to keep working and finish what he started. Lord, don't give up on me. Thanks.