Joey's Journal August 14, 2006

My God, praise and thanks I offer You for taking care of us last night; giving the children a good night’s sleep and rest for the nannies; bringing my wife safely home and keeping all loved ones and relations protected. I thank You for letting me wake up to another day yet always longing to be with You when You call me. May Your blessings be upon us as we live this day. May You guide us today to be more and more like Jesus as we proclaim He is the Lord of our lives. May You keep Joel safe when he is in the bus, in school and in their field trip at Raffles Hotel. Keep him attentive and obedient to his teachers and his temper controlled. May today be a blessing to us and the people we interact with. I pray these in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

My reading- Psalm 12 Where are the godly?

Help O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished the earth! Neighbors lie to each other; speaking with flattering lips and insincere hearts. They will lie to their hearts’ content and say – who can stop us? But the Lord sees all the violence done to the helpless and have heard their groans. Now He will rise up to rescue the godly, who fear the Lord. The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore the Lord will protect the godly and preserve them forever.

My reflections – I thought to myself, ‘why is the psalmist saying the godly are fast disappearing?’ I asked myself was this also happening then in the psalmist’s time? Evil and wicked people and things abound then. Now, we are more sophisticated and quite modern. Take away crimes like murder, rape, robbery, debauchery and other serious ones, what is prevalent today are lying, slandering, cheating, gossiping, philandering, womanizing, drinking etc. These are modern words saying the same evil things. Living on earth now is no different from when the psalmist lived back then.

Yes, the godly is fast disappearing. The people who fear the Lord are diminishing. Have they been swallowed by the wickedness of this evil world? Has the evil one placed his mark on his captives enticing others with material possessions so that they can follow their ways? No! I know there are still many out there who fear the anger of the Lord and by doing evil, they forfeit their invitation to the heavenly banquet God has prepared for us. These are the people who will stand firm because God is beside them and they engage in spiritual warfare with the enemy. Like the early prophets and followers of Jesus, they stood firm and upheld their faith and trust that they will be saved even with certain death staring them in the face. These were the godly people and they were let in to God’s heavenly feast and will live forever with the Lord.

My prayer – God, our Father, send me Your Holy Spirit to remind me to live a godly life. Keep me in the right path with Your decrees and help me be obedient to Your laws. I am a sinful man Lord, forgive my transgressions against You and my neighbor. Allow Your grace to change me and not forsake me to be given to the hands of the evil one. Breathe Your strength in me so that I can be firm like Your followers, fearing the lost of Your love and compassion. May I live more and more in the likeness of how Jesus lived then. All these I pray in the Holy and Precious Name of Jesus, who took our sins and nailed them on the Cross with Him. Amen.

By : Joey B