Daily Verse

God’s Italian Pinch

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God’s Italian Pinch

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Psalm 141:3 ESV

When our boys were small, we used to drive down to visit my dad and stepmom once every six weeks. Since it was such a long ride, we generally met at church and of course our sons would run to their grandparents and then snuggle in on either side of their gramma in the pew. Now our sons loved their gramma, and would usually try to be good, but almost inevitably one of them would start poking his brother or talking loudly during the sermon.  That is when my stepmom, would quietly reach over and give a good Italian pinch on whichever one was acting up. That got their attention! Suddenly they would sit straight up, quiet down and at least start pretending to listen!

In today’s verse, David prays for God’s correction over the unruliest part of our anatomy – the tongue. He asks God to put a guard over his mouth and a watchman over his lips.  It sounds to me as if He is asking for a good old fashioned Italian Pinch. But for that pinch to work we must start out by sitting close enough to God for Him to reach us. Sure, He might correct is, but just as our sons decided with their gramma, it is worth the risk. Second, when that pinch comes, we can’t run away. Instead, we have to sit up straight and be quiet! Lastly, try to remember that God is getting our attention for a reason. He has a wonderful message for us to hear and we need to do more than just pretend to listen. His guard is on our tongue because God loves us and guards us because we are precious to Him!

A Quiet Heart

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For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. Isaiah 30:15

This verse from Isaiah, was written to people who were in exile. They were far from their culture, family and roots. Though this might sound a lot like everyday life in New York, it actually referred to the kingdom of Israel. Instead of serving the God who had delivered them from Egypt, they had decided to build altars to all kinds of idols and had forsaken God. This occurred, not just for a decade or even a couple of generations, but for hundreds of years. Eventually God allowed the Assyrian empire to sweep in, conquer their land and carry most of the ruling class off into exile. It was almost as if God was said, “Okay so you want to serve foreign gods? Okay, so then you might as well and go live with other folks who already do!” But even as far as God’s people had gotten away from Him, He never abandoned them. In today’s verse He is calling for them to return home, if only in their hearts. The problem was not the Assyrians. The problem was their own stubborn hearts. Many of them liked what they were doing and instead of changing their minds about idolatry, they doubled down on their misbehavior and complained about their situation. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that describes most of us at one time or another in our lives. Our hearts have grown cold, and we have been carried far away from God. But God has not given up on us.

But how can we know that for sure? Well, think about where Jesus was sent to live. Sure, everybody knows that He was born in Bethlehem, but He didn’t stay long. Instead, Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee. And where was Galilee? It was exactly where the remnants of the people who had been conquered by Assyria lived. Matthew’s gospel tells us about why by quoting from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.” Now that picture of dwelling in darkness is exactly like many of our lives. We are busier than we have ever been, but in spite of all the comforts and pleasures that swirl about us, we are a community, a state, a nation and a world in turmoil. With the answer to almost any question at our fingertips we have no more peace and quiet than we had a hundred, two hundred or even two thousand years ago. We desperately need to find rest, and God is, calling out for us to come to Him to find it.  But just like those ancient Israelites, we often just keep running away. The answer to our problem is not by some idyllic lake, at the top of a mountain climb or on the deck of a cruise ship. The only true and eternal quietness is in the presence of Jesus Christ and He offer it for free!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

Jesus in the Morning

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Pray without ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV

 In the Old Testament we learn that Daniel prayed three times a day and though we can’t be sure of the exact hours they do correspond to a chorus we used to sing, “Jesus-Jesus- Jesus in the morning, Jesus at the noon time. Jesus- when the sun goes down!” That little song neatly sums up the simplicity of prayer. Some of us say, “Well I’m really not a morning person!” Or “I’m no night owl!” as excuses for why we don’t begin or end our days with prayer. But in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul tells us to” pray without ceasing” and king David tells us in Psalm 34 that he will bless the Lord at all times. In fact, everywhere we look in scripture, prayer is far more than just a night cap or a “Good morning Lord.” When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He set an example for us of all different times for prayer.

Early Morning Prayer:  And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35

Mid-Day Prayer Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”  Luke 11:1

Evening Prayer And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went upon the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone   Matthew 14:23

Jesus prayed when he had to make decisions and he prayed to bless his food. Jesus prayed when he was sorrowful, and He prayed when he was joyful. Jesus prayed for his disciples, and He prayed for Himself. As Jesus prayed at all these different times, He taught us how to pray. How wonderful to remember that the prayer ministry of Christ did not end on the day He went to the Father, but the Bible tells us that right now, He is still praying for us!