Of Psalms 43

I will walk;

He is with me

Head held high;

Ne’er forsake me

‘Midst the floods;

Right beside me

Rivers flow;

Yet not o’er me

Deep waters roil;

Arms convey me

Fires burn;

Do not scorch me

Though flames ignite;

Won’t consume me

Fierce battles rage;

Strong He saves me

Calls me out;

Oh renames me

Once despised;

How He honors me

Twice refused;

Poured His love on me

In His courts;

Grace surrounds me

Purpose cries;

Faith defines me

For His own;

Yes He made me

And I am His;

I proclaim it!

© OluPero Mettabel, June 13 2011

Isaiah 43:1-7

But now thus saith the LORD who created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life.

Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west;

I will say to the north,` Give up,' and to the south, `Keep not back.' Bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth,

Even every one that is called by My name: For I have created him for My glory; I have formed him; yea, I have made him."

A Word to Live By

I had a dream in 1988

I had a dream in 1988. The dream was so real and vivid; I remember every detail of that dream like it was yesterday…..

I dreamt that I was standing outside I was alone and for some reason I was looking up into the sky. I wasn’t looking for, or at anything in particular, my eyes just seemed to be drawn upwards… All of a sudden I saw Jesus in the sky and even though I had not been aware that there were people standing around me, I started seeing people lift off the ground, hurtling towards sky, like reverse shooting stars!!!!… All around me, all I could hear was whoosh, whoosh, and whoosh!!! As still yet another body took off….

I realized quickly that what I experiencing (but not being a part of) was the rapture, that I had just heard preached about in the fellowship! I began to get alarmed… Why wasn’t I being lifted also? I was born again… or wasn’t I? I began to panic and started running around, all the time with people still continuing to fly up around me, but still nothing was happening to me! I then started calling on the name of the Lord – Jesus, Jesus, JESUS!!!! While looking upwards and as I continued to look upwards, I felt myself being lifted, and all of a sudden whoosh I too shot up into the skies and all of a sudden all I saw was LIGHT! And I felt completely at PEACE…. Light, peace…

I woke up with a start; I was initially scared and very perplexed that I was not been taken up at once, and I began to question the Lord about this… Was I not completely saved?, was there something in my life that made me almost miss the rapture? As I turned this dream over and over in my mind, this is what the Lord told me: He told me that the reason why I wasn’t immediately taken up in the dream was because I had beheld him a first, but had then taken my eyes off him as I started noting the activity around me, and what I saw caused me to panic still with my eyes off him; But the minute I started to call on him and to look up to him I got lifted… He said to me: 'It is only those who look out for my coming, and keep their eyes firmly on me who will be saved'…. As long as you keep your eyes on me, you will not miss me….

I have never forgotten this dream it has stayed with me since then; and every once in a while, it comes back to remind me to keep my eyes on the Lord….

What brought this dream to mind? It was a curious message that my Pastor preached today on ‘What to do if you miss the rapture’ What a title! It focused on the fact that the rapture IS real, and it will happen, maybe sooner than we think…. The timing for sure is important, but most importantly we need to not only focus our eyes on Jesus, we also need to pray for our loved ones and for souls and to preach the Word in and out of season….
Political correctness is the way of the world today, but as one of my pastors would say, ‘The world is going to hell in a hand basket’, and we are helping to accessorize with the shoes to match (the latter half, my words) hastening their steps along their way, if we do not preach the Word…

Jesus is coming back again, and he is not willing that any should perish, so let’s keep our eyes on Jesus… not people, not places, not doctrine or creed, not what others have done or are doing, but on JESUS, while continuing to draw others to him…. We shall behold him, someday we shall, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it… Maranatha.

Romans 10:13
For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I Thess 4:15-18
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Luke 21:34
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.


2 Timothy 4:8
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing....

PS You can catch the message later this week at www.lwcc.org under the multimedia tab

Shalom

Let there be... And there was

Chaos, chaos on the face of the deep

Emptiness, chasm; No fall so steep

Void of sight; No illumination

Rumblings inside; reflecting rumination

Waiting, straining; Wanting to being

Now intense the Spirit hovering

Over the cloak and the covering

The Word; The utterance

The Power; Oh the glory

Spoken, speaking, Rising to awakening

Light out of darkness

Vital from starkness

The Force, The terror

The Elation of Creation

Beginning of the end

End of the beginning

Unending; Unfailing

The Godhead Supreme

The Voice thunders: Let there be….

And behold; Behold, Behold….

And there was!

WHEN HOPE IS BROKEN, THE SOUL IS DISQUIETED

I woke up this morning in a foul mood. My brothers and my mom, who unfortunately called me during this time, got the brunt of my displeasure. After I had called back all but one of them and apologized, and had done a little bit of soul-searching, I realized the reason why I was feeling this way: My hope was broken!

WHEN HOPE IS BROKEN, THE SOUL IS DISQUIETED

Yes! My hope regarding a particular thing that I had been believing God for was wounded and broken. This caused a rip in my soul and the hemorrhage that ensued, caused quite a bit of disquiet within me.

At the risk of sounding gory, when a freshly inflicted wound bleeds, it soaks into anything that it comes into contact with, and even the material that is used in the staunching of it’s flow; and until the hemorrhage is stayed the seepage continues.

So what stays the hemorrhage? It is the healing of the wound; IT IS THE RESTORATION OF HOPE! And where can that hope be regained? It can only be restored in the presence of the Lord.

David was in a similar situation when his hope in God had been broken, and rather than seeing the desire of his heart; the realization of what God had said to him in the secret place and even acknowledged in the presence of witnesses (albeit hostile witnesses, even though he sought after the Lord passionately), he was instead faced with exile, ridicule and delay upon delay of the realization of his dreams. What did he do?

Ps 42:4

When I remember these things,

I pour out my soul within me.

He cried unto God and brought to his remembrance what the Lord had said, and thus encouraged himself in the Lord:

Ps 42:11

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

So as I think on these things today, that is what I will do: I will yet hope in Him for I would have lost hope if I had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living or as the NIV version puts it, I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13).

Are you like I am hemorrhaging today? PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD! Remembering that He has come to bind up the brokenhearted, and we do not have to bleed any longer, because He has already shed his blood for us…. I am encouraged.

I hope in God!

For you and I will yet see the realization and the fulfillment of all our hearts desires…. Amen

Psalm 42

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation[a] of the sons of Korah.

1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?[b]

3

My tears have been my food day and night,

While they continually say to me,

“Where is your God?”

4 When I remember these things,

I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude;

I went with them to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and praise,

With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance.[c]

6 O my God,[d] my soul is cast down within me;

Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,

And from the heights of Hermon,

From the Hill Mizar.

7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;

All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,

And in the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my Rock,

“Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As with a breaking of my bones,

My enemies reproach me,

While they say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.