Chilly Chilton

I will keep a protective eye on the godly, so they may dwell with me in safety. Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me. 7 I will not allow deceivers to serve me, and liars will not be allowed to enter my presence. 8 My daily task will be to ferret out criminals and free the city of the LORD from their grip Psalm 101:6-8

Who serves you?

Yes, I know, this is a tough thing to grasp or answer, since “we” are all so humble & lowly. That is, we only serve others…  (cough, cough)! It’s amazing that people are not blinded by our glistening halos!

The intention of my question, is not to ask about being served in the church or the few hours that you are in deliberate Christian environments. I’m also not talking about possessing slaves/servants… no, no, no!  ”Who serves you?” is a challenge to consider who serves you: entertainment? satisfaction? enjoyment? life?

Is it the secular? Popular? Affluent? Or, even, liars??   - or, is it the godly?  Would the merchants at the mall, or your browser on the web, or the iTunes in your pod; ALL agree?

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With God’s help we will do mighty things,  for He
will trample down all of our foes. Psalm 108:13

BOOM! I have always LOVED this verse! There used to be an old song that we sang from this passage (it was taken, of course, from the King James Version). Check out the verse the way we sang it: Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

VALIANT! What a word!! I love it! Try to use it in a sentence maybe as an adverb:  ”valiantly” — No, no, no! You’ve got to do it with an English accent – try again! Brilliant!

Ok, back to today’s topic. Let’s look at the original Hebrew meaning for this amazing little word: Chayil. It’s definition means – force; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, and strength. Note: this word also pertains to all of you lady warriors — it’s the same word that is used for virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:10!  Then as we look further at today’s dictionary the word gains even greater definition: To be of worth; to be strong; possessing or acting with bravery or boldness; courageous; marked by, exhibiting, or carried out with courage or determination; heroic; (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary). Are you valiant? My friend, THROUGH GOD, you can be – in fact, YOU MUST BE!

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Rescue me from my rebellion, for even fools mock me when I rebel. Psalm 39:8

Now read that verse outloud a few more times… ha!

Can you relate or what? Ever wonder why God puts up with us? Here we find David asking God to rescue him from his own rebellion. It’s like saying, “Hey God, I’m an idiot – make me stop! … cause even bigger morons than me are hatin’ & mockin’ my stupidity!” 

AHHHH! This is painfully ironic… I have said & done equally stupid things (or worse). Then, I make a feeble attempt to pardon myself by saying (or thinking): “It’s always someone else’s fault” or “beyond my control”.  It’s gotta be so frustrating for God to hear all our excuses or watch our deliberate rebellion. I mean what keeps God from picking up a lightning bolt and throwing it from his thrown straight at my cranium?! He would be justified – I’ve deserved it lots of times. BUT HE DOESN’T! He loves me even when I rebel, betray, and fail (miserably)! And, on top of that, HE SAVES ME, HELPS ME, HEALS ME & EMPOWERS ME! He doesn’t leave us to live out our faith with just our human brain – no, He adds his Holy Spirit to our lives and that makes ALL the difference in the world.

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