Three Nail Thursday
Welcome to Three Nails Thursday! It’s a weekly bit of items that have helped me through my week. Thursday is my Friday, as my work schedule is Sunday through Thursday (Normally). Considering all that is happening, I need some inspiration to keep me focused on the task at hand. So I’m sharing with you three things that keep me grounded, focused, and inspired throughout my week. Here are the three nails!
A Song that I'm listening to...
Melissa and I have pastored here in Southern Illinois going on thirteen years. On our first drive to the church, on January 1st, 2009, we pulled under the portico entrance, and both said, we can Pastor here; we know God is here. There was an overwhelming feeling that this was the place; it was our time and God’s will for our lives. It was the most significant risk we’d ever taken. Leaving our careers, family, friends, and all that we’d ever known. We were moving to a place that we hadn’t heard of before December 30th, 2008. The first Sunday that I preached, the presence of God was overwhelming; the people were so hungry for God and His Presence! God met them there on our first Sunday together. So many things have changed over the years; one thing has not. God still meets us there. Every day I wake up, I’m thankful for the truth that God is still here.
“God is Here” by Martha Munizzi expresses my heart towards God about life then and now.
Here are a few of the lyrics; I trust they will speak to you as they have me all these years.
There is a sweet anointing in this sanctuary
There is a stillness in the atmosphere;
Come and lay down the burdens you have carried
For in the sanctuary, God is here.
He is here.
He is here to break the yoke
And lift the heavy burden.
I’ve created a playlist that will include all the songs that I share with you. Click here to follow along and enjoy.
A Verse that spoke to me...
The New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 27:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
It is said that this Psalm was penned by David when he was roughly seventy years of age. However, the events that transpired before David taking pen in hand and writing this prolific Psalm have similarities to our lives right now.
David had been fighting a valiant war against his arch-nemesis, the Philistines. A giant named Ishbi-Benob was on a mission to hunt down and kill David. He had David pinned down. David, weary from the battles, constant pressures of the day, along with the threat of death consistently over his life, is sent home. His men instructed him to leave the battlefield lest the light of Israel is snuffed out. Once he returned home, he penned the words of Psalm 27.
He began, “the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear.”
Then one verse later, “one thing I have desired, that will I seek after.”
After all those years, there was still a desire in David to fight the good fight. Not only did He desire it, but he went after his passion. Do I still have passion after all these years? Am I passionately pursuing the power and presence of God in our lives? Or has the pressure, pandemic, politics, or the prospect of the future, quenched my fire and taken the fight out of me?
It was the pursuit of the giant that wore David out. It also took Abishai to come along and give assistance to David in the battle. I want to be both of these men. First, I want to be like David, and even though the fight is long and tiresome, I pray the urge to fight never leaves me. Secondly, I want to be Abishai, that when my fellow believers are getting ready to be overcome by the haunting giants of their life, God can use me to come to the rescue.
A Quote that has inspired me...
This week’s quote is not a quote per se; it’s a proverb. It is taken directly from the English Standard Version of the bible. Proverbs 25:14 “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.” This one made me ask a lot of questions about myself. How often have I said, “well, I could’ve helped”! I have the talent, ability, and wherewithal to make it happen, but I didn’t do it. All I did by boasting that I could, yet not doing it, was bring darkness, depression, and despair to those that desired the help. |
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