Psalms & Star Words

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." --Psalm 32:8

On January 1 we began reading through the psalms – one psalm per day.  On January 8 we received star words to ponder and consider how God might be guiding us in relation to our words.  Initially I did not consider how these two might be connected – psalms and star words – but it has been my experience so far that the psalms have continued to inform my pondering about my star word.  Has that also been the case for you?

It should not surprise us that this is happening.  After all, the psalms are prayers, and prayers are an important part of our pondering.  We are seeking God about our star words and the Holy Spirit is using the words of the Bible, the psalms, to communicate with us, which is exactly how the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit works.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” (John 16:13-14)

My star word is “guidance,” and pondering this word has already caused me to be more intentional about seeking God’s guidance.  I am also noticing how often in the psalms we are assured that God will give us guidance.  Whatever your word is, I am certain that God has guidance for you, too.  I pray that we will all have listening and willing hearts, so that we might hear and do whatever God is telling us.

The abundance of God’s guidance is one way that I am seeing God’s goodness through my star word.  How are you seeing God’s goodness displayed in your word?

Let’s continue to encourage one another in seeking God and finding his goodness by sharing our stories.  You may send them by email, or post them on Facebook , or tweet with the hashtag #wpcstarwords, or comment below.

If you would like to receive the psalm daily reading plan and/or a star word, comment below.

May God continue to bless us as we seek him with all our hearts and give him thanks.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Melissa

Looking Ahead

Today is the day I am normally hunkered down in my study working on writing a sermon, but I don't need to because the sermon is being covered this week by Rev. Freda Brown, Executive Director of St. Vincent's House here in Galveston, TX, So, I am using the time to think ahead.  There are lots of options for filling up this brain space today--Advent, Christmas, finishing our rebuild from our sanctuary fire (we're getting close!!).  Those are all fun and interesting, but today I am getting excited about 2017.  What will the new season be like for Westminster Presbyterian Church, Galveston?  We'll be in a new sanctuary.  We're working on a new website.  What will we be ready to do in the New Year?  What has God got in store for us?

I'm working on a new series that we'll begin on January 1 - 150 Days in the Psalms.  We'll have a daily reading plan.  On Saturday nights in our contemporary service we'll discuss the psalm for that Saturday. On Sunday mornings in our traditional service we'll talk about the psalm for that Sunday.  We'll get together for Bible study on Sunday nights twice a month to talk about some of the more difficult psalms.  I'll post about it here and on Facebook.

Is it too soon to think about next year when it's only October?  I'll confess that thinking about 2017 takes me out of concerns about what Hurricane Matthew is doing in the Caribbean and along the east coast today, and past the concerns about getting our building finished and ready for the holidays. There are so many things  I could be worrying about, but admittedly I can't do much about most of them.  I'm working on trusting God for the things I can't affect, and being thankful for the opportunities and ideas and people and places that are part of today and tomorrow and next year.

I'm not preaching about the story from Luke that's our text for this Sunday (Luke 17:11-19), but I am thinking about that one leper who turned back to say thanks to Jesus for the healing.  What do we learn from him?  When have I forgotten to say thanks to God for taking care of me?  I'm sure I have often prayed for help and healing and then failed to notice that the issue was resolved, and if I failed to notice, then I surely didn't say thank you.

The other nine lepers ran on ahead into their newly healed lives without saying thank you.  As I look ahead, I'm hoping I'll keep my eyes open along the way through all the coming seasons and events and notice what God is doing and remember to say thanks.

What are you looking forward to?
What are you saying thanks for?

Amazed

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

Sometimes I forget that it’s possible to be speechless. Amazed.  Astonished. Astounded.  Awestruck. Overwhelmed.  I get busy, distracted, focused, and when life is swirling around it’s hard to stop and be amazed.  But this morning looking back over the past several days I’m taking some time to be amazed. 

--Amazed at the beauty of the sunset after all the crazy storms on Monday.  “Pour forth speech” (See Psalm 19 above) seems like an understatement sometimes.  That night, after the incredible deluge of water from the sky had moved on and all the remained were the bright pink clouds, the heavens seemed to me to be screaming about the glory of God.

--Amazed at the way God works out circumstances to put people in front of us to say things that we need to hear.  Things didn't go the way I expected this weekend, and thank God that they didn't or I wouldn't have been able to hear from these people.

--Amazed at the perfection of the moment when the worship leader at the church we went to on Sunday started singing the chorus to this song (play youtube below) which is still ringing in my thoughts today.  Lord, I’m amazed by you.  Yes, I am amazed.  And I’m thankful to be reminded to be amazed.

Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Habakkuk 1:5)

Be utterly amazed.  We can count on God to be amazing. He’s always amazing.  We’re just too busy to notice and be amazed.  And that’s one of the reasons I love this song.  It reminds us to stop and be amazed and humbled by God.

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.  (Matthew 15:31)

When people saw what Jesus was doing, they were amazed.  They’d never seen anything like this before.  And they recognized that God was doing something that was beyond belief.  They were seeing it with their own eyes, and so they praised God.   But some couldn’t see it because it was too far outside their understanding or expectation of God.  It wasn’t what they’d expected, and instead of being amazed they were dismayed and disgruntled.  How sad that they didn’t get to enjoy what God was doing.  Being amazed by God is a wonderful thing!

What is God doing right now?  Probably way more than I can comprehend or understand.  But I’ve gotten to see a bit of the evidence over the last few days, and this morning I’m thankful for some moments of amazement that’ve prompted me to praise God.  And I hope you are being amazed by God, too.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)