"O my soul, you have said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.'" (Psalm 16:2)
The present United States of America is a very strong affirmation of this.
Let me share a few other translations. "....apart from You I have no good thing" (NIV). "I have no good besides You" (NASB). "I have nothing good besides You" (HCSB). How interesting that even before I read our text this morning, I was thinking the same thing. It was one of those moments of, "I stand amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene...." Sometimes talking to oneself is okay, especially if one is reminding oneself that I have, "....nothing apart from You."
When I think of those years of Jesus' faithfulness, just in Jesus' provision alone, when things looked very, very uncertain, Jesus Was/Is always Certainty Personified. I remember once when I was contemplating an "alternative supply," Our Lord Jesus said to me quietly, even sadly as a hurt friend, "What are you doing?" I was never so thoroughly rebuked, embarrassed, yet loved and encouraged all in the same sentence. Take a moment right now, won't you? The hymn says, "Count your many blessings, see what God has done." It is much better "therapy" than counting what we think He has not "done."
You do know, don't you, that when we opened the door of our hearts to Jesus, He came in? The song writer said, "Since Jesus came into my heart,..floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll, since Jesus came into my heart." And, I remind you that HE HAS NEVER LEFT, NOR WILL HE. Presence is Who Jesus Christ Is. He does not come and go. He does not have to be awakened, nor asked to come to us, nor "welcomed," nor any other such language which implies He was somewhere else and had to be invited. "You are my Lord; I have nothing...besides You."
Father, in Jesus' Name, Yet, in You, I HAVE EVERYTHING. Amen.
The present United States of America is a very strong affirmation of this.
Let me share a few other translations. "....apart from You I have no good thing" (NIV). "I have no good besides You" (NASB). "I have nothing good besides You" (HCSB). How interesting that even before I read our text this morning, I was thinking the same thing. It was one of those moments of, "I stand amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene...." Sometimes talking to oneself is okay, especially if one is reminding oneself that I have, "....nothing apart from You."
When I think of those years of Jesus' faithfulness, just in Jesus' provision alone, when things looked very, very uncertain, Jesus Was/Is always Certainty Personified. I remember once when I was contemplating an "alternative supply," Our Lord Jesus said to me quietly, even sadly as a hurt friend, "What are you doing?" I was never so thoroughly rebuked, embarrassed, yet loved and encouraged all in the same sentence. Take a moment right now, won't you? The hymn says, "Count your many blessings, see what God has done." It is much better "therapy" than counting what we think He has not "done."
You do know, don't you, that when we opened the door of our hearts to Jesus, He came in? The song writer said, "Since Jesus came into my heart,..floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll, since Jesus came into my heart." And, I remind you that HE HAS NEVER LEFT, NOR WILL HE. Presence is Who Jesus Christ Is. He does not come and go. He does not have to be awakened, nor asked to come to us, nor "welcomed," nor any other such language which implies He was somewhere else and had to be invited. "You are my Lord; I have nothing...besides You."
Father, in Jesus' Name, Yet, in You, I HAVE EVERYTHING. Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
