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The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24)
Good day dear friend! May this find you blessed, refreshed and ready to go! If not, may your time with the word of God and time in prayer re-connect you in an awesome way with the Awesome Power of God. That's my prayer and I'm sticking to it!
Dear one, may we start our time with prayer? I visited yesterday with The Rev. Sheldon Johnson in his hospital room. With him was The Rev. Bill Henderson. We spoke of old days and good times. We prayed. Sheldon is in good spirits, all things considered; but today will be a difficult day. His wife, Sharon, and his 13 year old son, Ray, will be laid to rest in Mason, Texas. Sheldon is still too weak to travel, so he will watch the committal service by FaceTime. Pray the Lord strength and comfort Sheldon during that worship time. Also, The Rev. Virgilio Vasquez Garza is facing eye surgery this coming Monday in San Antonio. Pray for his healing through this surgery. Tomorrow, Mr. Doug Smith, will undergo surgery in San Marcos. Prayers for his healing as well. Thank you for your willingness to pray!
Our passage today is Psalm 24. As I was reading it this morning I had to tweet: "Poor Psalm 24; the overlooked younger brother of the MOST FAMOUS psalm. I won't say it's the Billy Carter of Psalms, but man, people LOOK for the 23rd Psalm. Poor 24! 'Oh, it's right before this one!' Just saying..." I'm aware there may be younger readers who will ask, "Who's Billy Carter?" I dared not use one of his pictures online, so I'll leave it to Aunt Google to explain it to them. Please do not get me wrong! PSALM 24 IS AN AWESOME PSALM! It is a psalm of praise of the Lord, and sings of God's mighty power and battle-readiness. (I suggest you read it in the Message Version which is available online through biblestudytools.com). I say again what Nellie and I learned back in March in Jerusalem: The Bible is a book that tells God's story using geography. It's different from most, if not all other, holy books; ours tells the important story of God connecting it to important places. This one psalm mentions the seas, rivers, hills (mountains), ancient doors (of the Temple), gates of the holy city (Jerusalem); and the need for those gates, and those to our hearts and lives, be open to the Lord. And it makes sense for us to read this psalm after the one who says the Lord is our shepherd! He cannot be our shepherd if we do not open the gates of our lives to Him. This 24th Psalm also calls us to be aware of what it takes to stand in God's holy place: Clean hands and put hearts. Think about those two. Every time I celebrate the sacraments I clean my hands with hand sanitizer, but also spiritually. I pray the Lord remove anything not holy and pure from my heart, and my hands, so that I may be the hands of God in celebrations and in life.
If we are to serve the King of Glory, we must surrender to Him on a daily basis. The laurels of yesterday serve only as foundation for what we do today. The echoes of past errors should have ended last night at midnight; and the new day should be the beginnings of opportunities to glorify God. May that be our prayer based on the prayer that is Psalm 24.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for all the Psalms. May the words to today's psalm fuel my day into being a day of victories in which I praise You and share You with those who are in need. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, lifting up the names above who need Your special touch and power today. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Open the gates of your heart and life to God today and all days!
Eradio Valverde
This was shared with the members of FUMC- Gonzales and it's an invitation to you all as well:
