Today I lift up my soul to You.

Saturday 8-27-2016   Home in Modesto

Scripture Reading:  Jer 52   Psalm 143 - 144   Rev 1

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Ps 143:8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You. NKJV

O.  King David was far from perfect, but there was something about him that was different from many of the kings that followed him. His soul hungered and thirsted for the close relationship with God that he had enjoyed when alone in the fields with his harp and his sheep. As king, his life had become more complicated and stressful. It seems that there was always someone who was seeking to destroy him.

A.  Life has a way of getting complicated and stressful during our most productive years. I was in my mid-forties and early fifties, my wife and our three sons were with me in Argentina as God opened doors before me. I woke up daily to new challenges and delicate decisions. I confess that I did not know which way to go. I was driven to daily seek God’s plan and will for my life. I was far from perfect. I made many errors, but God heard my desperate cries and led me into His ripened harvest fields giving us incalculable blessing and fruitfulness.

P.  Lord, I am retired now, and life is supposed to be relaxing and serene, but You have made this time in my live to be challenging like it was in those days long past. My daily prayer has not changed. I praise You for Your lovingkindness that floods my heart this morning! May my trust be only in You!  Show me the path I should choose… as, like King David, I lift up my soul to You. Lead me, one more time into Your harvest fields. Once more I claim Your promise of much fruit as I return to minister in Argentina in just 25 days. Amen.

Ralph

I Am Thine, O Lord

Text: Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915 
Music: William H. Doane, 1832-1915 

1. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice,  and it told thy love to me;  but I long to rise in the arms of faith  and be closer drawn to thee.  Refrain:  Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,  to the cross where thou hast died.  Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,  to thy precious, bleeding side.  2. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord,  by the power of grace divine;  let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,  and my will be lost in thine.  (Refrain)  3. O the pure delight of a single hour  that before thy throne I spend,  when I kneel in prayer, and with thee, my God,  I commune as friend with friend!  (Refrain)  4. There are depths of love that I cannot know  till I cross the narrow sea;  there are heights of joy that I may not reach  till I rest in peace with thee.  (Refrain)