Monday, April 21, 2008

Lay 'em Down

Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me, for I take refuge in You. I will seek refuge in the shadow of Your wings until danger passes. I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills [His purpose] for me. He reaches down from heaven and saves me, challenging the one who tramples me.

Think about that and reflect

God sends His faithful love and truth.

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Amen

7 comments:

Bino M. said...

Very encouraging Gary! Thank You!

Aida said...

Welcome back, Gary. You've been missed.

Thanks for sharing these scriptures. They are very encouraging.

Will we be getting part 2 soon?

Gary Kirkham said...

Hey Bino and Aida,

Thanks for dropping by. I don't know how "back" I am, but I will wait on the Lord and see what He has in store.

I have been reading the Bible pretty much every day. You might say I have immersed myself in it. Along with reading a few chapters out of the OT and a few out of the NT, I have also been reading the Psalms and Proverbs. There is so much wisdom and encouragement there and I find myself being blessed every day. I thought I would share my blessing from yesterday.

I haven't been reading much else lately, no blogs and I have several partially read books in my drawer that I haven't picked up for months...till last night.

I picked up Joseph Prince's book "Destined to Reign" and picked up where I had left off. I agree with a lot of what I read and I enjoy the different perspective he brings, but I also am having a difficult time with his manner and some of the things he writes. He comes across as lacking in humility. Maybe I feel that way because I don't know that much about him.

Will keep reading...

Joel Brueseke said...

I was also going to say "welcome back." :) But I know a while back you said you were going to cut back on blogging for various reasons, and I know you've been listening to the Lord and will continue to do so.

Thanks for sharing this.

I've not read Joseph Prince, but I've watched/listened to him. For the most part I enjoy and am lifted up by what he says, but I can see what you're saying about coming across with a lack of humility. I think to him it is confidence in what he is saying, but sometimes I've taken him to be a little less than humble. Other times I think humility has come through.

I know, too, that writing can come across in a different way than speech. That may be part of it. But also, the things he talks about... He has a huge emphasis on grace, but he also has a Word of Faith kind of backdrop. I personally think (and this is just me) that the WOF/Prosperity message taints the grace message. The prosperity message itself sounds (to me) like a doctrine that is not grounded in truth.

Anyway, I was glad to see your post the other day. I've had my computer down, so I'm just getting caught up on correspondence/comments, etc, today.

Gary Kirkham said...

Hi Joel,

Thanks for dropping by. Yeah, the WOF/Prosperity stuff does bother me. As you say, it kind of taints my reading of the grace stuff he writes even though I shouldn't let it. I don't want the pride of thinking that I am right about everthing close my mind to the truth that God wants to reveal to me.

Take care,
Gary

Mattityahu said...

Hey Gary,

I read Destined to Reign as well. Like you, I don't at all like the messages on prosperity, simply because I don't care about that stuff. It's irritating to hear it preached, but in the book he doesn't mention it that often. Just spit out the bones. ;)

He does preach the true message of God's Grace in Jesus Christ but all the talk of financial prosperity really irks me because it seems (to me) to give the message of God's Grace a bad name among the religious.

Gary Kirkham said...

Hi Matthew,

We have a saying down here, "just eat the watermelon and spit out the seeds." I have had to spit out a few seeds with this one. With me it's not just the prosperity stuff, it's the word of faith stuff that I have had to spit out. I have to scratch my head when he says things like, you have already been healed by what Christ did on the cross. If you are sick it's because the devil has given you lying symptoms in your body. You can make those pesky "symptoms" go away by simply believing you have already been healed. It's hard for me to wrap myself around that. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that God can and does heal people through faith, I just don't buy into the WOF doctrine.

In Christ,
Gary