Our California Trip

What a wonderful appointed time the Lord has given us. We are taking our time no rush, Ron is doing so good we try to get in as much walking, as we are doing a lot of stop and go. We Know that what ever time the Lord gives us His Grace is Sufficient. 

Astoria was our 1st night, then Lincoln city, Brookings, now Mendocino. We have been so Blessed to enjoy this trip!

I'd have to say really for the first time, really enjoying each little town as we go getting out and stretching our legs!!!! Being so thankful for the little things we can take so for granted.......

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Everyday we cant help but be amazed by our Lord Jesus Christ generous merciful watchful eye over us, He has given us these wonderful attractions of His handiwork to fully enjoy, and with His hand being the creator of them all, we so humbly thank Him for His unfailing love upon us------we realize we are so un-deserving of His Grace and Mercy over us,

But!!!!!!!!!  because of Who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross, He sits at the Father's right Hand as our Advocate every minute of everyday------- we truly are in Awe.............

Jesus has allowed and ordained these days Dad and I are having, our words seems so small and useless to describe how our hearts are overwhelmed with the Joy of His Salvation, and our lives Trusting In Jesus for every breath we take. 

"So we say thank you Lord with the words you have given us through your word to Glorify yourself in all things"!!!!!

When you travel you have much time to think and ponder on many things, our conversations are deep at times, and we realize how far we are from where we "truly desire" to walk with the Lord,

Our "eyes see to much" and our "flesh says "I want" "I want" I want it my way" and Jesus says follow me" We sing create in me a pure heart, and in the next thought were off thinking about this and that!

As we talk, We see Jesus -------He was "sinless"" No SIN" Perfect---Pure--HOLY--Spotless-- {"we are sinners and will always be sinners"} as long as we live in this stinking flesh", Jesus knew what the flesh was like, He felt Hunger, Thirst, Heat on His brow, rejection, Pain, Temptation, and more--

  yet He became sin who knew no sin so that we would be made right with the Father through His precious Son Jesus Christ

1Corinthians 5:21 tells us this---1John clearly show us this, Paul describes this in Romans, Ezekiel 36:26

"Praise the Lord when we come into relationship with Him He gives us a new heart, a new Spirit, and removes the heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh!

We begin to understand what our Lord Jesus did for us, {"He saved us from our self"} From our sin------and continues to save us from our self daily!!!

as we beg for more of Him to change our wicked hearts, as we beg Him to help us have a  greater desire in our heart to want to please Him and He alone!!!!!!!!

and to be more like Him in every area of our life,  Knowing  our self centered absorbed flesh we are at war constantly fighting  what is contrary to the Spirit! and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh!!!!! We desire to be under the leadership of the Spirit of God in us, Molding and shaping us by His Truth, His Word

we make a decision daily to say Lord be the center of all my thoughts, decisions, fill me with your Spirits presence, create in me a pure heart, renew a steadfast spirit so I am not turning to the left or to the right....... If we settle for anything less then were saying I like my life just the way it is!!!!!!!

This is "not" Biblical!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus wants all of us.. Every minute of everyday we are being sanctified in Christ Jesus as we allow Him to surface, purge, expose, rid us from the areas of our life that keep us in bondage, our behavior that does not walk in the Spirit, our thoughts that are just as he horrendous as if we did the act,

The More we see and realize what Jesus did on the cross for us------HE SAVED US FROM OUR SIN--------THE SIN THAT SEPERATES US FROM A HOLY GOD---HE SAVED US FROM ETERNAL TORMENT,A TORMENT THAT IS FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!   God has called us to be Holy! {not perfect} Holy which means more like Jesus---set apart from an unbelieving world.

{"The more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays"}. Why as a believer do we not get this? Every thing the Lord does for us is out of His love for us, even in spite of our foolishness.He Loved us 1st----------------do we understand this?

Like I said you have a lot of time to think when traveling------------these thoughts are constantly going through my mind, why do I struggle more with some things than others?

Do our our conversations with others,speak as if our Lord is sitting in the room?--NO--NO---NO!
If the Spirit of God lives in us, "God hears every word we say and every thought we think"!

But yet we treat Him distant and impersonal!!!!, think about it!!!!!!!!!!                                                       we don't mean to but we do...........we talk as if He is not with us!                                                               Our Conversations and thoughts He knows before we say or think them------------who are we fooling???? Only ourselves.................

I repent of these things, I ask the Lord to Forgive me of treating Him like this and to change this in me------For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.............1 John 2:16

So as we are traveling I see how ever present My Father is with me/us sooooooooooooooooooooo intentional, so purposeful in everything.......nothing goes un-noticed by Father, nothing, and we see His Generous hand over every little-big things, Our breath--the morning sunrise, the cool breeze, the warmth of the sun, the ability to walk, think, make decisions, invite Jesus to be the center of all your choices, plans, purchase's, everything, but how quickly we get distracted--------He even opens up a parking space, to getting the right hotel---seeing what made Our God Love what He created and see that it was good............His Peace over us the Joy of His Salvation in us, and unbridled joy daily. 

these are all the things that make Him ever present those are the simple things, the obvious things, but yet we can still take them all for granted in our business.......

I've written thoughts I think and I can think a lot about and desire my Lord to change much in me--------and what burdens my heart, I know the Lord knows all things and one thing we can not do is hide anything from Him, from each other yes! from our Lord NO!-------------                                                                         so I /we continue to walk in the Spirit, asking the Lord to continue to mold and shape and change us from the inside out, to be more like Jesus.

The Lord gives opportunity everyday to share the gospel, if we are available and willing He will always open the door, the test is do you, take the opportunity and share? What our sole purpose is in this life is to share the gospel, plant the seed, some one else will water, and the Lord will increase/grow................

I Love you all we love you all we Pray the Lords Mercy over you, and His guiding Spirit to lead and direct you in all His ways ,hemming  you in closer to do what is His Will His way,

I'm learning that anything "Man organizes "outside" of the "word of God" ------ mans hands have stained it and it is already flawed.........

We must come into agreement with God's word and align all things according to His word..............

My Life is to please My Lord Jesus Christ, this I so desire, Mr C says the same-----------

Come Lord Jesus Come, and may we all finish well and strong...........Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.....1 Timothy 6:12

Let the morning bring word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.    
Psalm 143:8
Dad and I acknowledge that every little or big trial is for our benefit! That our Lord be 1st and center in every decision, choice, thought, adventure, travel, plan, that we would love Him with all our heart mind soul and strength, then our Neighbor, then our self --------

We so desire this be our lifestyle, everyday we pray Lord Jesus let your Will be done, have your way and will in our lives, the choice is ours to allow Him to have free reign to do just this, and live in it and live it daily.............this we pray over ourselves and you the Church..............there is so much more in me, and when we sing these songs I truly mean them,

I could just sit
I could just sit and wait for all Your goodness
Hope to feel Your presence
And I could just stay
I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel You
Hope to feel something again

And I could hold on
I could hold on to who I am and never let You
Change me from the inside
And I could be safe
I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home
Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord
You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You lead me Lord
Where You lead me
Where You lead me Lord
And I could hold on
I could hold on to who I am and never let You
Change me from the inside
And I could be safe
I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home
Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord
You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You lead me Lord
Where You lead me
And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life
So let Your mercy

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life
So let Your mercy light the path before me

Cause You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord


Where You lead me
Where You lead me Lord

picks are of coast guard Depot Bay, and Astoria Columbia river, Mr C , Mendocino, redwoods, and Family 

In Jesus Name

Mendocino

Redwoods

Elk

Crazy huge trunk of redwood tree fallen

Malibu

Mr C's Personality

He has a hat fetish!!!!!

He has to be the funniest man I know, His humor comes out of no where, and hits you in the "Bladder"!

Good Morning Lord, Thank you for another day.

Here we are in the month of June,the months are flying by! It seems as if our summer is passing us by. Mr C is doing as well as one can be doing with Brain Cancer,

We have a Mighty God who saves us everyday,His righteous Hand is always extended down upholding us even in spite of ourselves.

Mr C's left side is becoming more "un-usable" one realizes how much we need our limbs for every little thing and when it is taken away we feel the frustrations of every move we make, every thing we reach for to grab on to,or just the simple task of putting on shorts,or putting a shirt on, holding a glass, all are difficult or impossible when your mind is not communicating to your body what to do.                                                   Mr C wakes up with a smile on His face and A thankfulness in his heart,Praising the Lord for another day,new Mercies and Grace and pushes through the difficulties.

His pain is constant now,so everyday He is on 2 different pain meds, He will get headaches, the base of his skull and neck which at times are unbearable,

He has what they call Phantom pain,it is a pain coming from a body part that is no longer there!
The Brain Cancer tumor, is pressing on these nerve endings, which are causing His left side to no longer have the use it once had!
He will  feel stabbing,squeezing like a vise, tingling, sawing, which are causing pain to be excruciating at times.

Between the Steriods---Anti seizure meds-------and pain pills Mr C is doing as well as can be expected.

He is always wanting to be out on the water, we go when we can, most of the time He is sitting on the patio in His lounge chair enjoying the sound of the Birds, the cool breeze and watching the boats and ferries pass by and catching a snooze.

When you see Mr C He looks great, This is the Hand of the Lord over him, He tires quickly, and is so thankful for each day the Lord gives us, What is interesting now with Mr C is His attention span, if His Mind gets to over stimulated with questions or conversation, he'll just shut down or walk away,and you'll see the phone on the table and the other person might be there but Dad won't!!!!!! 

He's a Character, everyday is different,and challenging at times, but O Lord Help us to endure and persevere,for we know your Grace is sufficient.

 Thank you Lord for your Great kindness over us and your generosity of allowing us to have another day, may we be faithful in serving you,glorifying your Name in all that we do. May you be pleased with our lives as we delight in you. Lord with out you we are nothing,and we know that in this life is not where we lay up our treasures,Help us O God to be more like you, to see your perspective over our lives and to live for your Kingdom, to have more of a kingdom mentality to know this life is but a breath and eternity is forever------

Help us Father to live as you have created us to live all for your Glory acknowledging you are our life line, you are our only Hope, You are our salvation, you are who holds the keys to eternity. 

Father Give me your strength to Love My Husband well, full of compassion, patience,understanding, being slow to anger in those days when the challenges become over whelming, O God Save me from myself,that I may pass each test that you allow so that I will depend fully upon you for all your Strength and Wisdom to sere my Husband as you have designed, for better or worse in sickness and health till death do us part.

Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is with in me, Bless His Holy Name.

Dad's Last MRI 4-4-14

It has been a long while since I've sat and wrote anything, and today I just want to thank the Lord for giving us this day,and once again how grateful we are that He is in control over our Lives, whether we give Him control or not!
4-4-14 was Dads last MRI since Last years, the news was no better than last years other than the cancer has spread considerably,and all Major blood vessels are running through it,The Nero Surgeon said a biopsy would be all they would want to do just to see how aggressive the tumor is at this stage,We say no.......
Lord willing no more MRI's!
The Lord has been so incredibly kind,and generous to Dad and I, in sparing us from any surgery's and treatment.

As we left U.W. Seattle cancer care alliance, My heart was heavy with all the sick people we saw, sooooooooooooooooooooooo many with cancer,so many you could just see, may not have to many days left....
Why the Lord has allowed Ron's Tumor to be inoperable we may never know,nor do we care to know, what we do know is that after this last visit, it was "validated" that the location of Dads tumor could never be totally removed, and the treatment would not end.
If Dad had surgery meaning the biopsy it would cause so many deficits,
we boast in the Lord at His generosity and great merciful ways for showing us this was the path we were to take,even when we did not know at times if the decisions we made we right, it was "His peace" that we had that we knew this was right! He has clearly validated them,over each and everyday He allows us to have.
We learned a verse about 8 years ago and it had been the one verse among so many that we have memorized made into a song and lived the last 4 years with out a doubt.
Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding ,in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight, this is His Promise

As of today 5-23-2014 Ron is doing as well as one can do with Brain Cancer,it is becoming quite comical in so many ways because what is "abnormal is becoming normal" to us........
And we would rather laugh than cry these days...................example:
Today Dad came out with His sweat-shirt on back wards so I just put His hood over His face, and He realized He had it on backwards.............there are many more incidences,                                                 He is soooooooooooo funny, He's so witty and got something to say--- which can make me race to the bathroom!

I Love that the Lord has made our days light in the hard, this photo was on Mothers Day, a fellow we know asked if we would ride with Him back to Friday Harbor where He keeps his boat as he was a lone and needed help, we said sure, it was a beautiful day on the water, Mr C was quite happy to be on the fly-bridge. {Don't He look good?} the Lord is good, even in His pain He always has a smile....

Today is Friday Memorial weekend and we Praise the Lord for Such a relaxing day. Ron likes to puttzzzzzzzzz around the yard, in about 20 min he feels like he has walked 20 miles,                                        He has been heavy on pain meds,but still has a smile on His face. Thank you Jesus.

As we Lift our prayers and request to the Lord each day, we thank Jesus  because of who He is, He is our final authority in all things, He is our necessity in this life, and He is who keeps all our sorrows from eliminating us, we will have more sorrow ,we will have more trials,this is a fact, but with our Lord all things are possible, and we will overcome,and persevere and prayerfully run this race well.

Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of trees, where the crystal tide flows forever,,              gather with the saints at the river, that flows from the "throne of God",                                                       Beyond the river there is rest. I Love you Jesus, thank you for your grace so sufficient today.
Thank you Faithful Saints for keeping us lifted up before the Lord Daily.
James 5:16 The effectual Prayer of a righteous man  availeth much.

Out of the Pit

We don’t know where the pit is until we find ourselves in it, and then if we are looking at all the surrounding circumstances we find ourselves wandering aimlessly in the bottom of it!

Our Lord Jesus Christ did HIS due diligence to warn not only His disciples but us to expect trials in life they would be the trials of our faith.  They would come at us from all directions and circumstances.
⦁ Acts 14:22 “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

⦁ I Thessalonians 3:3-4 “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed there unto. 4) For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”

⦁ II Timothy 3:12 “Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (trails)”

Can you imagine dear ones how devastated the disciples were when they witnessed their best friend and Savior tormented with pain and then dying on the cross.  NO STOP – don’t blow this off with “I know the story!” DO you?  That the instructions after his death were to go on and live your life for your crucified and risen Savior?    (Jesus uses commands such as go, teach, baptize, forgive and make disciples.)  

The truth is many that profess to know Christ stumble and fall away when they get hit with these trials in spite of these words and many other similar Scriptures. If we’re going to persevere with Christ, we must know in advance that we will face times when we are in the pit, and we must know what to do when we’re there. Rather than wandering aimlessly in the bottom of the pit not looking up where there is always help to get out! Sadly often we focus on the circumstances of what seems like a hopeless prison of walls---but---with GOD, all things are possible!

Psalm 40 is a Psalm about the pits. Perhaps that is where we get the phrase, “life is the pits!” This is the part where you read Psalm 40.

It falls into two sections.
⦁ In the first half (40:1-10), David tells how God got him out of one pit and he sings God’s praise for doing so.

⦁ But like life so often is, with in the same Psalm David is back in another pit, crying out to the Lord to deliver him from this one. (40:11-17).

⦁ David waited intently on the Lord to rescue him from the first pit he knew how to wait on the Lord to get him out of the second pit as well. So it’s a psalm about what to do when you’re in the pits.

I suppose right here it is wise we ask the question “what’s the pit?”

A. The Pit can be any trial of our faith that takes us down.

David does not specify exactly what the trials of the first pit entailed.

The second pit clearly involved the consequences of David’s sins (40:12) and many enemies that were trying to destroy him (40:14-15). But he doesn’t exactly say what the first pit was, except to describe it as a “pit of destruction” and “the miry clay” (40:2).

We know a shock of a family crisis can cause us to lose our grip on our faith, making the walls of the pit slippery as miry clay we just can’t seem to get a grip on anything. If you fell into a pit whose walls and bottom were mud, you would be in big trouble! That’s where David was. He was trapped and unable to free himself.

⦁ Then there’s the Pit of hell! If you have not yet cried out to God to save you from judgment and eternal punishment for your sins, then you are in a deep pit with no human way out. You may not feel like you’re in that pit. You may feel as if life is going reasonably well. But Paul describes your future this way

II Thessalonians 1:7b-9, “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

It’s the worst of all pits to be in! The pit of hell!

⦁ Your pit could be circumstances: Your pit could be poor health, the loss of your job, loss of a loved one, the shocking news of crisis involving loved ones, former friends that turned against you, an unfaithful mate, rebellious children, or any other overwhelming problem.

⦁ Do I need to accept responsibility! You may be responsible for being in your pit, or you may be a victim of the sins of others or life’s unpredictable trials that are common to the human race. David’s situation in the second pit seems to have been a combination of both. He acknowledges his many sins, (a good clue) which have overtaken him like a fog, so that he can’t see his way clear (40:12). I think that he is not referring to sins that he was currentlycommitting, but rather to the consequences of past sins that were now coming home to roost. But, also, the consequences involved wicked people who were wrongly intent on destroying David (40:14).

B. WHEN YOU’RE IN THE PIT, YOU’LL BE TEMPTED TOWARD PRIDE OR FALSE-HOOD TO GET OUT OF THE PIT.

This warns us to love light rather than darkness! In verse 4, David writes, “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

When we’re in a pit, it’s very easy, even if you profess to trust in the Lord at other times, to grab onto any seeming as a way of escape (boo’s, drugs, credit card, lust, gambling sin has no limits)  instead of trusting in God alone. The proud are those that boast in their own abilities. (God forbid that we should do this!) They don’t recognize or admit any personal weakness, or ownership. Rather, by their own ingenuity and effort, they will get out of their crisis on their own. Or, if you’re in a jam and it looks like a little “white” lie will get you out of the jam. (Again God forbid that we would do this!)

If you find you are in a pit of your own making don’t justify why you’re there; humble yourself and HE will lift you up!  NEVER trust in your own lies, that is costly and you will pay hugely for it and for not putting your trust in the Lord. My kindly advice is regardless of consequences or how much you yourself might be humiliated suffering humiliation; forgiveness is cleansing and puts you back into the favor of God and man!

It has been said, the definition of insanity is: Doing the same things and expecting a different outcome. Or Having Expectations and expecting a different outcome.

King Asa was a classic example of a good man who fell into this trap. He was a good king who instituted many reforms in Judah. When a million-man Ethiopian army invaded Judah, Asa called out to God and affirmed his trust in God alone to deliver them (II Chron. 14:2-12). But many years later, after a long reign that God had blessed, when the king of Israel came up against him, Asa sent tribute to the king of Syria and enlisted his help against the enemy. Interestingly, his ploy worked. The king of Israel had to abandon his invasion of Judah to defend his northern flank.

But, a prophet rebuked Asa for relying on the king of Syria instead of relying on the Lord (II Chron. 16:7-9). Asa’s final days were plagued with painful gout. II Chronicles16:12 reports, “yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.” It’s not that it’s wrong to go to doctors, or rely on natural remedies but it is wrong to trust in doctors or remedies if your primary trust is not in the Lord. The lesson is, it is always wrong to trust in anything or anyone other than the Lord to get out of your pit, even if it works. (Include God in everything).

C. THE WAY OUT OF THE PIT IS TO WAIT INTENTLY ON THE LORD.

David says, Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.” Waiting on the Lord is a common theme in Scripture. For example:
Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

⦁ Again, ⦁ Psalm 37:9 “For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”

⦁ And again, ⦁ Psalm 37:34: “Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, thou shall see it.”

But, what does it mean to “wait” on the Lord? Our psalm gives us at least seven clues:

1. WAITING ON THE LORD IS INTENTLY ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE (40:1).
The Hebrew of verse 1 is an intensified form of the verb, literally, “Waiting, I waited.” The New English Bible translates it, “I waited, waited for the Lord.” It’s not a passive, ho-hum kind of waiting, like you do at the doctor’s office when you thumb through a bunch of magazines to pass the time. Rather, it is an intently active time when your situation in the pit tunes your heart to the Lord in ways that you would not normally experience. It means to wait expectantly as you hope for God’s promises to be fulfilled on your behalf. The more intense your situation, the more intently you wait upon the Lord to fulfill His promises.


2. WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS TO CRY OUT TO HIM FOR DELIVERANCE (40:1, 13, 17).
God’s timing often does not coincide with our timing. We want it done instantly, but God has other purposes. But when you’re in a pit, there is a sense of urgency. In verse 1, David mentions his cry, which may have been as simple as, “Help, Lord!”

In verse 13, he directly cries out, “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD make haste, to help me.”

 In verse 17, he repeats, “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my heap and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”                            
                                                                                                                                   
One reason we often do not cry out to God for deliverance is that we do not see ourselves as afflicted and needy. This is especially true in the case of those who do not see their own need for salvation from God’s judgment.

 Because our tendency, even after salvation, is to think that we can do it ourselves, the Lord graciously keeps putting us in one pit after another, so that we cry out to Him.

3. WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS TRUSTING HIM ALONE (40:3, 4, 11).
In verse 3, David expresses his hope that because of his testimony of waiting on the Lord, others will also come to trust in Him. In verse 4, as we’ve seen, he mentions how blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust. Waiting on the Lord means, “Lord, You’re my only hope for deliverance.” So waiting on the Lord is not just a passive biding your time. It is an active crying out to the Lord, trusting Him to answer because of His love and compassion.

4. WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS RECOUNTING HIS MANY WONDERS AND HIS CONTINUAL PROTECTION OVER YOU CARE (40:5).
Waiting on the Lord gives you time to think. But you’ve got to direct your mind to think about the right things. If you think, “Oh no, God has abandoned me! I’m doomed!” you will either panic or turn to the world for help. But if you think about God’s many wonders and how He has worked in the past to deliver His people, you will wait with expectant hope in Him.

As David waits on the Lord, he thinks about who God is and what He has done. He says (v. 5), “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Maybe David was thinking about the wonders of creation (Psalm104). God established the earth so that it is hospitable for us to live here. He placed the earth at the proper distance from the sun, so that we do not burn up or freeze. He waters the earth, providing crops for our food. He preserves us from many catastrophes that we don’t even know about. I heard recently that a meteorite came uncomfortably close to earth. If it had hit, it would have wreaked major damage. And yet I never heard any newsman giving thanks to God for preserving us from destruction!

David also was probably thinking about God’s many wonderful acts of delivering His people from trouble.
⦁ He brought them out of Egypt in the Exodus.
⦁ He preserved them in the wilderness.
⦁ Food, water, clothes, shoes, shelter – all their basic needs.
⦁ He enabled them to conquer the powerful Canaanite nations and occupy the Promised Land.
⦁ He saved them time and again from powerful foes that threatened to destroy them.
⦁ On the personal level, David had seen God deliver him from the bear and the lion, not to mention from Goliath and from Saul’s repeated attempts to kill him.

If you have known the Lord for any length of time, you can think back to many times when you were brought low and the Lord delivered you and lifted you up. So as you/we/I wait on Him now in whatever pit we may be in, recount His many wonders and His kind thoughts toward us. Truly, there is none to compare with Him!

(5). WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS OBEYING HIM (40:6-8).
“Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; my ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.’”

HE really desires an obedient heart that delights to do HIS will.

In other words, David is affirming what Samuel told the disobedient King Saul
1 Sam. 15:22 “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”

The author of Hebrews applies these verses to Jesus (Heb. 10:5-7). The idea here is that God opened the ears of His servant so that he would be obedient to His Word, which was in David’s heart. Applied to Jesus, that obedience was unto the cross ( Isa. 50:5-7).
The application for us is that when we’re in a pit, we must focus on continuing to obey the Lord, even if He does not deliver us quickly.                                                                                                                           The devil will tempt us to give up trusting in the Lord and to seek fulfillment in other ways. He will whisper, “God isn’t meeting your needs. If you want to get a mate, why keep waiting on the Lord? Look at all these nice, available non-Christians who could meet your needs!”                                                                          The sad realization of this is “be careful what you want HE may just give it to you!  Keep obeying God’s Word as you wait. Obedience first then the blessing!

(6). WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS SEEKING HIM (40:16).
“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!’” In this context, seeking the Lord is a synonym for crying out to Him in expectant prayer. If you’re seeking the Lord and not just deliverance from your pit, you won’t forget about God after He delivers you. Sadly, many (foolishly try to) “use” God like Aladdin’s Genie and put Him back on the shelf when they get what they want. But here, the reason that David waits on the Lord and seeks Him is so that He will be magnified, or glorified. If David turned to some human scheme for deliverance, then David and his ingenuity would get the credit. By seeking the Lord alone, when the Lord answers, GOD gets ALL the credit.

(7). WAITING ON THE LORD MEANS REJOICING IN HIM (40:16).
No doubt, David was rejoicing and glad about his deliverance when it came, but he makes the point here to rejoice and be glad in You (“in the Lord”). The joy is not just in the deliverance, but in the Lord who delivers. It means finding God as our eternal treasure, so that we rejoice in all that He is, as well as in all that He does for us.

So when you’re in the pit, wait intently on the Lord. Don’t turn to the world for answers. Turn to the Lord.

Waiting on Him means crying out to Him;
⦁ trusting Him;
⦁ recounting His many wonders;
⦁ obeying Him; seeking Him; and
⦁ rejoicing in Him. Then,

2) When the Lord rescues you from the pit, proclaim His goodness. David hammers this theme throughout this psalm.

3) He says, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.”

4) David testifies to the blessing that is on the man who makes the Lord his trust.

5) He extols God for His many wonders and His thoughts towards us.

In verses 9 and 10, he again affirms, “I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed your loving kindness and Your truth from the great congregation.”

Why does David repeat himself so determinedly? It is because he knew that if he did not repeatedly make it plain that the Lord had done great things for him, others would chalk it up to David’s good luck or to his natural abilities. But David wants everyone to know that he was helpless in a pit of destruction, sinking into the slimy mud. He never could have rescued himself. All he did was cry out to God and wait expectedly for God to deliver him. And when God did rescue him, David made sure that God got all the praise.

Conclusion
A telescope takes what looks like a tiny object in the night sky and magnifies it so that we get some idea of how awesome it really is. Without a telescope, people either ignore the stars or maybe look up and think, “Twinkle, twinkle little star.” Little star? With a telescope, astronomers know that many of those stars are anything but little. They dwarf our own sun, making it look like a speck of dust by comparison!

Many in the world either ignore God or think of Him as small and distant with regard to their lives. As Christians, we have cried out to the Lord to save us from the pit of destruction. We were mired in our sins with no way out. He sent His Son to offer Himself obediently on the cross on our behalf.

Since He has delivered us, we are to be like telescopes. We are to magnify the Lord and His great salvation to a world that shrugs Him off, while they waste their lives watching inane TV shows or pursuing riches that will perish at their deaths. We should tell others about how the Lord rescued us from our trials, so that they will join us in saying continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

 Psalm 40:1-2
Once again; what’s the pit?
⦁ It isn’t really a place as much as it is a state of being
⦁ a state that many find themselves in today.
⦁ a state of discouragement
⦁ a state of frustration
⦁ A state of loneliness
⦁ a state of despair
⦁ a state where you find yourself crying out and saying “what can I do to get out of this!?!?!”

There are too many people who have fallen and can’t get up. God didn’t design for us to live this way. God designed us to live lives of victory, not defeat. Lives of hope not despair; Lives on the Rock, not in the pit.

We have an enemy. The devil’s schemes loves to get you down in a pit and then convince you that “if you were a good person you’d have gotten out by now. You must be really bad if you’re still stuck in here.”

⦁ The reason some people are struggling today is not because they are evil or lazy or undisciplined or lukewarm the devil schemes try to make you think so!

People can lose hope
⦁ When there’s seemingly no hope, the simplest thing becomes difficult and the lightest weight becomes burdensome. Nothing is easy when you’re in a pit and you lack hope.

What we need to get out of the pit:

1. Acknowledge it – nothing changes until you realize that you need to change. That is a fact of life. You’re in a pit. You’re not where you need to be. Your life is not on track. Your relationships are not on track. Your career is not on track. YOU’RE IN A PIT. Stop making excuses. Acknowledge it tell a trust friend and the two of you pray!

2. Admit it – something powerful happens when things move from thought to word. Admitting our problems to others, become real and there is a sense of accountability. Two are better than one, and there is power in our prayers for one another!
When we think about our situation often NOTHING happens.  But when we speak it out that sense of accountability and realness admits our plight, “I’m in a pit. I am not where I need to be. I need help getting out.”

3. Address it (to God) – forgive me, cry out to God and ask God for help. Psalm 25 is a great psalm to pray when you’re in this situation. Let the words of the Psalmist go deep into your heart as he says:

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.”

4. Attack it – come up with a game plan. Break your pit down into parts and attack it piece by piece.

Don’t think for one second that God has forgotten you or forsaken you. No matter how you got stuck, no matter how long you’ve been stuck, or no matter how much you think you deserve to be/get stuck, your Deliverer is waiting to lift you out of that pit and set your feet on a rock.

Shalom
Written By My Mom Doris Short Trainor