Silenced Songs

On March 25, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 27: 6       NIV                         Index Card 9

I will sing and make music to the Lord.
This one is a little personal to me but certainly you can adapt it to your situation. The reason this verse is so important to me is that although I love to sing, I am embarrassed by my voice, so I tend to keep it to myself. It is quite deep and I rarely let anyone hear my true voice. Because I was embarrassed by my voice I said no to my pastor when she asked me to join the praise team. I have regretted that for 30 years now. I hate singing rounds because my voice stands out so much. This is my promise to the Lord that I will not reject His invitations anymore. I will sing and praise Him and let the chips fall where they may, even in public.

Now in truth, I have a decent voice, well, at least I can carry a tune. There are folks who don’t sing to the Lord because they don’t like their voices or think they can’t sing well. I at least sing to the Lord when I have the house to myself and Dad likes it. Sometimes He will even ask me to sing to Him. With a chuckle I comply. Some folks, though, won’t even sing when they are alone because they think their voice so bad. I have learned that God loves your voice. Do you know that even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket it still sounds beautiful to the Lord. I don’t know how it works, maybe it undergoes a metamorphosis as the sound waves travel through heaven, but it sounds good when it reaches His ear. And brother, if you are singing praise from right out of your heart then even Pavarotti doesn’t sound any better than you. You have the ability to bless God’s heart so sing and make music to the Lord.

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Opened Ears

On March 24, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 50: 5                    Index Card 8

The Lord God has opened my ear.

There is no prayer I have prayed more than, “Lord, let me hear you.” I was desperate to hear the Lord. I listened to ministers talking about what God told them and it really annoyed me. I couldn’t hear God speaking. So, when I found this verse I held on to it like a drowning person would cling to a life ring. This is my promise. I knew that anything God would do for Isaiah, He had to do for Ivey because “God shows no partiality” (Galatians 2: 6).

I actually chased God 2500 miles one year because I was sick and tired of not hearing His voice. If anyone else was hearing Him speak then I was going to hear Him too. I declared to God that I was going to get Him and by God, I did, or more accurately He got me. I heard Him, I saw the Holy Spirit, I had a prophetic dream, I had words of wisdom and words of knowledge all over the place. Now if I struggle at all in hearing God’s voice, I know I can hold this verse up to our beloved and He will open my ear again.

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No Weariness Here

On March 23, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 40: 28     (paraphrase)                               Index Card 7

I do not faint or grow weary, or tired.

This is a good word that most of us need to hear weekly if not daily. Our strength really isn’t in our bones and muscle. It is in our interconnectedness with the Lord. When I am in Him, I am strong. When I rely on my own strength I get run down and bone tired. That makes me think that if I am complaining about being tired, it is probably a good indication that I am relying on my strength rather than the Lord’s.

The slogan for Ivey Ministries is “Intertwined with Jesus”. The image in my mind is of an Ivy vine being inexorably intertwined with Jesus so that you cannot separate the two. The Lord, our God, showed me this while pondering Isaiah 40: 31 which reads, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” The word “wait” in that passage means to become intertwined with. The fruit of becoming intertwined with Jesus is much more expansive than in this context alone but here is our promise of physical strength and vitality. You know, when Moses was one hundred and twenty years old the scripture says of him, “his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated” (Deuteronomy 34: 7).

There is one other thing I would like to point out about this passage. If you look it up you will find that I have paraphrased it rather than quoting it. Remember, I am taking these from my index cards. So, what I have done here is make this personal. This is a personal promise from God to me. Father never grows weary, tired or faints and since we are inextricably intertwined, I don’t either. No weariness here!

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Never Forsaken

On March 22, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Hebrews 13: 5 – 6                 Index Card 6

He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

This verse speaks about confidence and I find myself thinking, “Yes, this is the kind of confidence I need.” I want to be unafraid. I want to abound in radical trust in the Lord. Life will certainly take on a different flavor when we trust the Lord that extensively. We will answer His call on our lives. We will believe we can do what he says we can do because he is our helper. We are not alone. He will not abandon us.

I used to often feel lonely. Now I almost never do. I have grown in my awareness of God with me, Jesus in me and the Holy Spirit leading me. I certainly am not in the full radical trust in the Lord Jesus that I would like to live but I have learned that he is always with us and thus, we never have to feel alone or lonely. His word is good and it is true. He will never leave us nor forsake us. You will never be abandoned or left to fend on your own. Amen.

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Strong Guards

On March 21, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Psalm 141: 3                   Index Card 5

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Well, here we are again, back to my mouth. Remember, this series is from my own set of index cards. These are the verses I have transferred to cards so that I can post them in front of my eyes continually.

If I can lasso the words of my mouth, then my entire walk is easier, “For, ‘The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit’” (1 Peter 3: 10). The truth is, though, “no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison” (James 3: 8). So, I failed time after time, and I still fail today if I don’t keep God’s guard over my mouth.

This is a good reminder for me today. I should pray daily for God’s help with my mouth. O Lord, send a big angel to guard my mouth and keep watch over my lips.

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Reverential Awe

On March 18, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 25: 12                                   Index Card 4

Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

First, let us remind ourselves that the kind of fear written of in this passage is more akin to reverence. It is reverential fear. I personally think of it as awestruck wonder and veneration. For those who revere the Lord, who admire and respect Him, there is a multitude of blessing. Among the myriad blessings is that God will instruct you and lead you. 

Understand, though, that God is not withholding any blessing now. His desire is always to help you to choose wisely and to lead you according to His ways. The only reason He does not do so more often is because of our attitudes. He cannot advise a person who does not turn to Him asking for His advice. We fail to seek Him and to seek His advice.  

Look, you are not going to ask advice of someone you don’t respect and God is not going to force His wisdom down your throat. He wishes to instruct you. He longs to lead you. Turn to him with a reverential attitude seeking wisdom and guidance and you shall receive.

 

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Wants Fulfilled

On March 17, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 10                    Index Card 3

But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

Jesus said he came to earth to bring us abundant life (John 10: 10). That implies, doesn’t it, that he wants to fill our lives with good things? So, these two verses (and many others) work together. Jesus wants to pour good things into our lives so he had his prophet teach us to seek him. Didn’t Jesus say it himself during his days on the earth?  “Seek and you shall find” (Matthew 7: 8).

In him is everything pertaining to life (2 Peter 1: 3). Now, if I told you that I had a million dollars for you, you would seek me out, wouldn’t you? Essentially that is our position with Christ. He has it all, he wants to give it to you, you just need to go see him to get everything you want, everything you need. You shall not be in want of any good thing. That’s simple, isn’t it?

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