a life worth living with a God worth loving

I am having a hard time with my blog

dehanson — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:03:23 +0000

I am using posterous to post blog to twitter, facebook and here. It is messed up somehow and I am working on it.

dehanson — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:51:00 +0000

Psalm 80

19 Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

To have God’s face shine on us is a poetic way of saying, “Stick close to us and show us your glory, Lord!” If only God were here…. God is here.

Pray for His Presence.

dehanson — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:46:00 +0000

Psalm 79

4 We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.

When this psalm is created, the people of Israel are ridiculed by their neighbors. Today, many of our neighbors ridicule us again. Today, it is much less envy and competition, as it is in the days of Israel. Today, some of the scorn we receive is because some Christians act so over-the-top. It is actually helpful scorn. It reminds us we are to be a light way more than a judge.

Pray for graciousness.

dehanson — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:14:00 +0000

Psalm 78
65 Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep, like a warrior aroused from a drunken stupor.

This is a fascinating psalm in that it does a historical timeline in a very graphic way. When God, a non-physical reality, is described in human attributes it is called anthropomorphicism. God is also described in natural terms like “Rock, ‘ or in military terms like “fortress” and “shield.” “Hungover soldier” is rather unique military term…
“O God, you are my strength and shield; you are my hungover soldier. Alleluia!” Don’t think it works.

Pray to God like he is able to accomplish whatever you need to be a blessing in the world.

dehanson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Psalm 77

14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

God is displaying his power all over the place. The challenge is personally having access to the power. The Holy Spirit brings the goods and it is right to start by asking for the Spirit to fill you so you can be a blessing.

Pray to be a blessing.

dehanson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:33:00 +0000

Psalm 76

2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.

God is everywhere, and in ancient times, they thought of God especially coming to the temple of Jerusalem. Now the use of metaphor for God living in a tent or living anywhere specifically is seen in scripture without explanation.

Jerusalem has the unique role in the Old Testament because that is chosen as the capital city where God’s people seek him and worship him. When Jesus arrives, God, temple, holy presence and all are wrapped into one. Jesus is all.

Pray to sense the presence of God in your life this week.

Mary says, "Yes!" Luke 1:26-38

dehanson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:54:00 +0000

When you just trust God at his word

dehanson — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:34:00 +0000

Psalm 75

10 For God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked, but I will increase the power of the godly.”

God’s power comes through the Holy Spirit. God gives power to those he can trust. If you want that kind of power because you want to be a blessing to others, open yourself to the Holy Spirit and you will be blessed. Then watch what God can do.

Pray for power. More power, Lord.

dehanson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:29:00 +0000

Psalm 74

20 Remember your covenant promises, for the land is full of darkness and violence!

God will bring his peace into the world. There will come a day when everyone will know Jesus and his ways. It doesn’t mean everyone will want Jesus and his ways, but his light will make it all clear.

Pray for the light of Christ to come.

dehanson — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:32:00 +0000

Psalm 73
20 When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.

Why would we purposely choose to ignore God and work against him? Because we can’t understand everything about him? Who would want to worship a God you could fully understand? He would only be as intelligent as you…

Pray for the desire to honestly seek the deeper things of God.