“I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, LORD, I will sing praise.
I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me? “
Psalm 101:1-2a
David expresses what it is to live a godly life in this passage; recognize who and what God is, and then respond. To consider God’s love and justice is certainly an awesome thing, and to take that all in and not respond with praise is almost unbelievable.
Yet, it isn’t just praise with which we should respond, for in light of God’s justice, we also must respond in the way we live our lives. David says that he will endeavor to lead a blameless life, and while he fell short of that goal, the Bible records that he was a “man after God’s own heart”.
I cannot claim to be blameless in my life, and I suspect that I have quite a bit of company in this, yet I believe that it is for us to respond to God with our best effort. By His mercy, we’ll get there yet, and maybe we’ll bring a ray of His light into a troubled world.
Life Project Blog 
A wonderful way to start a Sunday. Blessings to you, Dear Friend!
Thank you, Skye, blessings to you also!
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Reblogged this on Rescuing Jesus .
So true. If we say we have no sin….Thanks for Jesus.
Amen!
Don – rather than try and say the same things (as I tapped out to Little Monk) in a different way – the words below apply equally to you. Forgive the copy/paste/amend.
There was an occasion when in a personal development exercise we were asked to shadow one another. To follow them and mimic (as close as possible) their movements, gestures, reactions … the equivalent of “walking a mile in my shoes”. My partner exhausted me in 10 short minutes. Seeing with a speed I could not match, walking at a speed faster than my own, living and breathing and being so very different from me. When we reversed roles, I confused him with equal measure. Pondering confusing him – slower speeds irritating him. Slowing down as exhausting for him as speeding up was for me. Not for ourselves – but to match someone else. To work at their pace.
I thought of that these past couple of days. Trying to keep up with you all. Feeling I should. By not adding reciprocal comments that I was being impolite.
Yet the truth? Your speed inspires me. But also exhausts me. You have been a catalyst for sparking a quantum shift. A rolling back of the stone. Little Monk and you have (along with many others providing a necessary pinch of different spices) provided the main ingredients on which I now have spiritual indigestion. As I burped my way through this feast, I also found my loved ones needing time and companionship. Obligations and elements of living to be done as well. God’s time is really helpful. But our earthly clock also ticks.
Relationship demands time. The good lord reminded me of that this weekend. And then embroidered that into the recipe. My “wood piles” becoming infused with the lord more and more.
Your continued road trip, Little Monk’s words and imagery and conversations, others’ words and lightning bolts, the daily sojourn into his words – that continues. Just finding the time to reply with sufficient elegance will mean a small delay on occasion! Burp ….
Hi Paul!
In the life of any man, there are seasons of fast growth and progress, and seasons of quiet reflection and pondering of all that he has learned; this, I think, is as it should be. In the same way, there were times when our Lord spoke in the Temple courts to great crowds, and times when He withdrew to solitude for prayer and reflection… we all have these experiences. Please don’t waste a precious moment concerning yourself about whether there is an element of impoliteness if the Spirit leads you to reflection, or if you take time out to nurture your relationships with your loved one, this is a good and wholesome thing to do!
Our Lord leads each of us forward in differing ways, He leads us according to our talents, abilities and spiritual gifts; He knows where each of us is on our journey, and He knows what we need at any moment. Thus, following Jesus is only about walking with Him, and never about “keeping up” with our brother. It might just be that your brother who is chattering on and on at a rapid pace all of the time is really behind you, because he is too immature to pause and reflect periodically!
Take good care Paul, and remember always to follow where He leads you!
Don
Don – you are one Big Brother! Thank you.
And speaking of chattering! Jim Voigt parked a comment on my post today – and it released a major dollop!! You are instrumental, but not responsible. For that I look to the lord and me.
And as always – you bring a tenderness to your words. Through them they always draw me closer to the lord – help my courage levels. Help the being brave and thinking outside the box. And maybe even finding the box is an okay place!
🙂
“Hear! Hear!” and “Amen!” *raises coffee mug in a hearty toast of agreement and joy!*
Ironic, what? If there is one thing Don and I agree on intensely, and are trying to reflect in these posts (though perhaps I am arrogant and presumptuous to say that… I do NOT speak for Don, here or anywhere else), it is that God is so incredibly wondrous and perfect in His guidance, love, grace, nurturance and INSTRUCTION of us as His children, servants, ambassadors, disciples… That when Jesus said He was sending the Holy Spirit to us as (among other things) a TEACHER, He was not kidding, exaggerating, or waxing poetic.
We are “brethren” WITH you and every other Kingdom Child. Much more “fellow learners” than “teachers”, and whatever other encouragement we may provide, whatever other concrete guidance may fall from our fingertips… nothing… NOTHING can trump the True Teacher, the Holy Spirit, in His gentle unctions and urgings to sometimes study, sometimes read, sometimes write, sometimes BE with family and loved ones, and sometimes… just … “be still, and know that I am God.”
I applaud you, and I hear Don doing the same above this…
Grace to you — LM
Nicely put!
Don, I could pause at that photo all day. Reading the blog and comments this morning, I am heartened that one more person understands that as we all choose to walk with Jesus, we do so at our own pace and in the way the Lord has set for us uniquely and individually. Just as in the animal world, some are frogs and some are rabbits, some are deer and some are lions, we each have our own qualities and characteristics (gifts and talents) that the Spirit has given us to use for the good of His kingdom. That may be publicly or it may be privately with our families – only He can direct us.
We also need to remember that we are human and, in that, will stumble. Yet God always reaches out a hand to help us up, help us back onto the righteous path. We just need to choose to take His hand. Thank you for the reminder that it is our hearts that are important to Him.
Susan you put all of this in a beautiful and elegant way, thank you so much, you are a blessing!
I love this post, Don. It is, again, perfectly timed. Thank you for it!
Thanks LM!