September 5, 2023

Scripture: Psalm 86:11 – “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

What it means

This is one of the many Psalms that are classified as a “Psalm of David” – meaning that it is attributed to King David’s writing.  There are definite patterns within all of the Psalms, and in particular the writings of King David.  One of the themes that we find repeated over and over is the request to have a better understanding of the ways of God…through His truth, His written word, His ways…It sounds a little foreign to us in 2023 in many ways, as we typically don’t see much value in spending a lot of time in the scriptures and better understanding God and His ways.  If we look at this properly, there are so many benefits to taking the time to devote to this, and verse 11 details a few of them.  We better understand that God is faithful in all He does, and our hearts become undivided – in our priorities, our focus, and what we channel ourselves into.  We are solely focused upon Him and “rely on your faithfulness.”

My time, as I have shared many times, is precious these days, and filled with everything from my secular job, my ministry job, trying to occasionally be there for my wife and son, etc.  Sorry if I complain too much, but it seems like there’s always something trying to vie for my attention and divide my thoughts, and my heart.  It has become easy to push my quiet time to the side and not intentionally carve out time to be quiet before The Lord and reflect upon His scriptures.  When that happens too frequently, it gradually takes its toll on me and my priorities and focus are not where they should be.  I would encourage all of you – do better than me and make sure that your precious time with The Lord is something that you cherish, and look forward to, as opposed to just making it another item to check off your daily to-do list.  If you do, your life will have more meaning, purpose, and joy…and that’s just how The Lord intends for it to be 😊

I had the high honor of officiating the wedding of Joyce Long's son Franklin and his fiancee Rachel this afternoon in Joyce's front yard.  It was a short but sweet ceremony - please join me in praying for Franklin as he faces another surgery on his injured leg this Wednesday morning at UT.

Love you guys, hope you enjoyed a restful Labor Day holiday, and we’ll talk again on Thursday!

In Christ,

Brian