Just Out Back Ministries

My eldest daughter spent her high school years singing in chorus, going to state competitions, and perfecting her technique with a few hundred other young men and women her age. It was a beautiful sound when the timing is right, the soloist hits their mark, and the annunciation is honed and practiced.

As good as that is, I stand in a room filled with untrained, unrefined, and I dare say mostly musically inept like myself. In that chorus of a few hundred men and women of all ages reaching with their voices towards heaven to grab the attention of the Lord, there is no more beautiful sound.

It brings to life scripture that Psalm 100 calls a joyful noise that we should make unto the LORD. Bless His holy name and all that is within me praise His holy name.

Thank you Jesus for giving me voice to utter beautiful noise to you.

If you follow my main page, you know I am in Proverbs. This page is going to go through Psalms until the Lord tells me to stop or we get to 150. Not sure how it will flow yet, whether it will be the whole Psalm or pieces over days, but here is where we will start.

1 How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the company of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
4 The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

In today’s verses we find David giving the same instruction that Solomon will give his children. The distinction is that David delights in the word of God. One can only be deceived into calamity if diverted attention from the love story that is God’s law, as David knew it, is your companion. This is the source of strength. A tree sways in the gale force winds of a hurricane, but few actually fall unless something has compromised its strength.

Chaff on the other hand is the husk of the wheat stalk and gets blown around easily by a breeze. It does not have roots to hold it in place, but it is also meant to be wasted.

The truth of God’s word stands above even His own name. The schemes of the enemy are ever-shifting because it has no grounding, just like chaff. The Lord calls those He leads and they hear His voice. He is looking for a man or woman who is in love with His word. He can use that person to bear fruit.

He would love for every person to respond to His loving kindness and the free gift of salvation He offers, but the fact is some people are just happy being chaff and that path leads to eternal separation from the God who loves those He created in His image and for His purpose.

Would you answer the call? Would you grab his attention? Would you delight in His word? Would you choose to be happy, as David says, or would you walk in the advice of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners and sit in the company of mockers?

He is waiting.

In six days scripture says what was void and formless God would become a finished work. In one chapter, we discover this recounting, but it is not until chapter 2 of Genesis that He declares it is finished. That word "finished" is not so complicated. Kālâ, in Hebrew, means completed or accomplished. It was done. It was good as proclaimed by the Lord and nothing further needed to be done at Creation.

God's work in Creation was completed in the second chapter of His opening Testament, what would become known to us as the Old Testament, or the Old Covenant. According to Ephesians 1:4, He chose us before the foundation of the world meaning there was more to the Testament than the Old Testament could tell.

In the Genesis account the work is not complete until God states it is. Jesus, God made flesh, states from the cross that through the New Covenant (promise) the work is complete. As He is hanging, nailed on the cross, the object of ridicule, naked and alone, an innocent criminal, He declares to the Father the work is complete, "It is finished."

God is faithful to complete His work. Philippians 1:6 announces that He who started a good work in you will carry it through to completion. Look at Creation if you are unsure. Validate it with the cross if you are still wavering. He is faithful to complete His work as He has proven in both the second chapter of the opening recounting and the second Covenant He makes with you through the finished work in Christ.

Maybe you have heard this before and maybe you have quoted it not knowing its source. "There is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 19. I want to know what the mountains have seen in the time since Man's creation.

We think we are so clever when we "discover" things. Let me help, the earth was created one time and all of it was created together in six days. There was nothing taken away from it, nor anymore added to it after the Creation was complete. After all, God did say it was good.

The Genesis account in chapter 2 we read, "For the Lord had not caused it to rain on the earth, and no man to till the ground, but mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground." What was the purpose of the mist? To water the ground. Where did it come from? The earth. As I read that, I had to find out about the mist. Well, the word is only used one other time the Bible and Job pens this phrase somewhere between the years 540 and 330 BC, "For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist" (ēḏ, in Hebrew).

In 1580, Bernard Palissy discovered the water cycle that Job wrote about 2000 years prior, and Genesis speaks about another 900 years earlier still. How could Job know? There is nothing new under the sun. Who revealed the secret to Moses, the author of Genesis? God. Why would we say someone else discovered it? Because we want God's glory for our own.

I do not know who Palissy is nor can I judge his relationship with Christ, but I can tell you all of man's understanding is minuscule to the work done by God at Creation. Man craves the glory and the enemy of God, Satan, wants him to believe that he can be like God. It is the very phrase he uses to convince Eve to take the fruit and eat it "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God," (Gen 3:5). The very concept of claiming godhood was the cause of the fall of Man.

Man wants to be like God and replace Him with himself. God gave us the choice to allow Him to be God and thereby dependent on Him or to create our own way as we seek to be God ourselves. I encourage you to place God, the source, at the center of your thinking and let Him reveal to you His knowledge.

Isaiah 35:7. twice yesterday this scripture was spoken over the people. I didn't grow up in the desert, but I did the swamp and I know what kind of water it takes to grow reeds and rushes. This is the journey the Lord wants to take you on. The prophecy of Isaiah over 2500 years ago is the same today. He wants to take what is your dry and barren land and spring up water tot the depth reeds and rushes can grow in.

From death to life. From lack to abundance. From desperate and endless thirst to overflowing water flowing out of your spirit because you have His Spirit in and on you.

Will you continue to walk in the desert or allow Him to fill you in your surrender to His way for you?

When all hope Is lost, there is a savior who loves you!

This “Checkmate” Sermon Illustration Will Shock You 🤯 Checkmate sermon, the king has one more move.Consider helping with a DONATION to my ministry and work for Jesushttps://www.stayhere.l...

Have you ever driven from the country where there is a limited population and limited lights towards a city of moderate size with significant population and the glow of the city is seen for miles before you see any lights? It is the reason you do not see stars in the city very well. The glow of the city lights acts like the sun to shine a brighter light than the lights in the sky.

Matthew 5 is where Christ tells us to let your light shine before men. Your light is brighter than the stars, the city lights, and even the sun. Your light exposes the darkness (Ephesians 5). You can put a bucket over the top of it and deny your authority in Christ Jesus, but then how are you impacting the world with he gospel?

This is not in any way a condemnation, but Genesis 2 states that God sanctified the seventh day, what we call the Sabbath. Another term to define this could be consecrated. He purposely made that day for us. Christ says the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. Why? Because we have been appointed, another use of the Hebrew word qāḏaš. The day was set apart as His people are set apart. He created the day to an appointed people. In other words, He designed a day, a people, and later, a nation to be set apart from the world to bring the light of the gospel to it and subdue it. Adam and Eve's instruction was to fill the earth and subdue it. What was there to subdue? The enemy's of God had been cast to earth where they ruled and reigned. We do not have time to go into all of that, but I want to make one more point.

Genesis 2 is the first time the term qāḏaš is used and it is not used again until Exodus when the Law is given. Exodus and Leviticus comprise 59 uses of the word, specifically regarding His people and their actions. Only 2 Chronicles comes close to the quantity of use in either of these books and what was its use there? The dedication of the Temple of Solomon. Sanctification is very important to the LORD. He places us in environments where there is darkness all around. I have several friends on mission in several locations where this is reality to them right now. One light penetrates the darkness and exposes the hidden things of this world. One person set apart, consecrated, appointed, changes the scenery because God has imprinted His light into them.

Let your light shine before all men and do not fear the darkness that has no power to diminish light.

Rest.

We need it. As a culture, we do not believe in it. We believe that time is too important to waste on rest. What we are really saying is we do not trust things to be done right, or done at all, if we rest. Our phones have made that situation worse. We are slaves to busy rather than following a rhythm of work and much needed rest. In music, there are spaces of rest written into the flow of the chords not because the music needs it, but because the musician needs a breath, a pause, a small respite from the constant movement of noise.

Similarly, God took an entire day to rest. Just like the music, He didn't need it, but He wanted to example a time where His people could rest. He paused from all work and just let the Creation function without Him for a day. Genesis 2 starts with His completion of the host of Creation, and then He rests. In the next verse He would bless the day and even further when the Law is introduced He will declare it holy, set apart. A time to honor the Lord and all He has done including Creation.

What would it be like if you were recognized for some great achievement and society threw a party for you in your honor, but you refused to stop working long enough to receive your reward? God does not need a reward for what He has accomplished, but we need His blessing.

What is going to happen in eternity if you take a day out of seven to rest?

What impact to ceaseless time will your lack of work create?

Do you want God's blessing?

Rest.

How many of us really understand the war we are in? Entertainment tries to mimic the scenes of war and battle, but the few people I know who have fought on a battlefield, urban or otherwise, rarely speak about what they witness. One of my favorite books on the actual warfare believers should be engaging in is by Jamie Walden. This is not an advertisement for his book (I do recommend it), but it brought to light the intensity of actual warfare and the mentality we should be equipped with in the spirit realm.

Genesis 2 begins, "thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished." The word host (ṣāḇā') is more often used to describe the army of the LORD than any social responsibility at home. In that vein, once God had created Man and the task of Creation was complete, why does He say "all the host of them?"

The battle rages in the spirit realm. Scripture says the enemy prowls around seeking who he may destroy in 1 Peter 5:8. God warned Cain, "sin lies at the door" waiting for the turning of the heart away from God. The battlefield was set at Creation. The war will play out on the earth. "All the host" will engage in the battle. Deuteronomy 20 says, "the Lord is he that goes with you, to fight against your enemies, to save you."

The war will be difficult in the eyes of man. Revelation paints pictures I do not want to witness. However, Philippians 2 reminds us that "at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on the earth, and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God the Father." There is no challenger to His throne, but the host of Creation is finished and we would do well to remember our armor every day.


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God said, "Let there be light" and there was light. (Gen 1:3)
What did He command there to be? Light.
What came from his command? Light.
Where did the light come from? Scholars say because of His presence, but the Bible clearly states He was already there.
So, I offer two points to ponder.

1) If His presence brings light, does that mean He is absent in the dark. Definitively, no. He is ever present. David said there is no where he could go to hide from His presence in Psalm 139. What are you trying to hide or where are you trying to hide from the One who is everywhere and present in every moment?

2) God commands things into existence. Do you think what He wants for you is beyond His reach? I am understanding of a deeper dependence. One that drives me to obedience. One that makes His presence known. God has gifted me with ability (physically and spiritually), but not to be used for my own purpose. If He is the source of my strength (your Bible is clear about this...He is), then all the ability I am using should be focused on His desire for my life. Where are you leaning on your strength or your understanding of your existence? I, like Paul, have not reached the mark that God has laid out for me, but no other will speak a better word than God to me about me.

God is not dependent on me. Rather, I am dependent on Him for all my needs, desires, and outcomes. He commanded light and He will command the things He wants for me to come into alignment as I align my needs, desires, and outcomes toward Him. Let His light shine on you today.