The Monday Memo from John Stanko

Memo 1105: Laundry List for Life

We've been searching for clues to help you live an abundant and overcoming life, as Jesus promised, as you occupy the throne of purposeful living God has assigned you. This week, let's take a quick look at a 'laundry list' of life, comprised of behaviors and attitudes David mentioned that seem to fit in with our search:

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken (Psalm 15).

What I'm referring to as your 'throne' David refers to as 'dwelling in [God's] sacred tent' or 'living on [His] holy mountain.' I don't know about you, but those venues sound like good places to hang out, so let's look at what David said we have to do or be to reside there.

THE LIST OF ELEVEN

I identify eleven things from Psalm 15 that should be part of any abundant lifestyle:

1. Walks blamelessly. This doesn't mean you're perfect; it means you acknowledge and make amends when you're not.
2. Does what is righteous. That means you know what to do, the will of God, and then do it.
3. Speaks truth from the heart. You don't pretend to be who you aren't, even if who you aren't isn't all you or God would want you to be.
4. Doesn't slander or cast slurs on others. You don't speak badly of others. If you have something to say, you say it to them. You also keep your speech free of snide comments, cynicism, and sarcasm.
5. Does no wrong to a neighbor. This leads to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" which Jesus answered in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Your neighbor is someone with a need who you encounter along your life's path.
6. Despises a vile person. You don't join in to celebrate what your culture exalts but that God despises.
7. Honors those who fear the Lord. You're part of a redeemed community of like-minded believers.
8. Keeps one's word. You follow through on what you say you'll do for yourself, for others, and for God.
9. Doesn't change one's mind. You aren't double-minded, but have a set of values that you live by in good times and bad.
10. Lends to the poor. You're close enough to those in need so that you're able to recognize their need and then help to meet it.
11. Takes no bribes. You stand for justice and fairness even when it's in your best interests not to do so, forgoing personal enhancement or benefit to stand up for what's right.

SELF-EXAMINATION

Who wouldn't want to be married to someone who manifests the traits on this laundry list? Who wouldn't want a spouse or friend or co-worker or employer or employee who lived out these values and behaviors? The answer, of course, is no one wouldn't want it, but your job isn't to find people like that. Your job is to be a person like that—to be the one who keeps your promises, who only offers encouraging, positive words, who helps those in need, who doesn't just talk about what you believe but lives it out.

To help you do that, I suggest you go back to the list of eleven and give yourself a score from one to five on each one, one being the worst and five the best. Now examine the list. What are your impressions? Where do you need some work? Where are you where you want to be? Where do you fall short? The lesson, of course, is there's always something to work on in your life that will help you live an abundant life. Your lowest scores give you an idea of things God needs to help you work on, and your highest scores are things that you can maximize to be effective in God's kingdom.

Therefore, this week's PowerPoint for Living is as follows:

You must regularly self-examine to ensure that you're living according to the values, attitudes, and behaviors that got you where you are today so they can keep you where you are today—and prepare you for where you need to go tomorrow.

Someone once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living, but the unlived life is not worth examining.” I urge you to live the abundant life but as you do to examine yourself so you can come into even more abundance. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1104: Limitation Thinking

People regularly ask me how I have been able to do what I've done—write books, publish books, travel, speak, daily social media presence, and teaching. My answer is pretty much the same as I share with them my journey over the last 20 years to confront and replace limitation thinking. What is limitation thinking? I'm glad you asked but for the answer, you know the drill: You will have to read on.

WRESTLING

This series is equipping you to live the abundant life that Jesus promised you would have. It's not about prosperity or an abundance of things, but it's a life that bears a lot of fruit for God's kingdom and glory. Each week, I present a PowerPoint for Living that summarizes the lesson as we been study David's life for clues to identify the PowerPoint. This week, let's go to Psalm 13 to look at another lament of David's:

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:1-2, emphasis added).

David was crying out to God because of what David considered to be His inattention to David's plight. In these verses, notice that David was "wrestling" with his thoughts that were producing daily sorrow. Fortunately, David won the wrestling match, for we read, "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me" (Psalm 13:5-6).

Many people don't take an active role in their thought process. They assume they're stuck with and in their anxious, fearful, worrying, and otherwise negative thoughts with no recourse but to give in to their natural destination of anxiety, fear, and worry, with crippling effects. However, you aren't a victim of your thoughts unless you want to be, for if you learn how to wrestle them into submission, you can be the beneficiary of thoughts that will lead to better outcomes.

THE PROCESS

The first step in wrestling with your thoughts is to recognize you have them and identify them for what they are. Twenty years ago, I had to recognize that I was afraid, terrified even, of my own creativity. Thus, I hid from it and made excuses for why I kept it in a cage under lock and key where no one, not even I, could access it. Once I acknowledged I was afraid, I determined why. Fear of success was actually the cause, for I was fearful that my success would lead to criticism and ultimate failure when I couldn't handle the increase from my success.

Once I had that in place, then I had to replace those fear thoughts with new thoughts. That didn't happen overnight because they weren't planted and didn't take root and eventually bear fruit overnight. It was hand-to-hand combat as I daily, sometimes all day, had to say to myself, "That's how I used to think, but God hasn't given me a spirit of fear. I'm confident that He has equipped me to be fruitful and creative. I am a creative person!"

Then I started to set new goals that were more consistent with my new thoughts. Instead of setting a goal to write one book a year, I increased that to two, then three, then more. Eventually, in the first year of the pandemic, I wrote and published seven books. And now I have applied that same process to every area of life. I confronted and dealt with my limitation thinking that was limiting not only myself but also God. I will never go back to the old ways.

To summarize, your PowerPoint for Living this week is

You no longer need to be a victim of your thoughts but can be the master of them. To do that, you must learn to wrestle with and overcome your thoughts that are limiting your ability to live the abundant life.

To do further study on this matter, read Romans 8:1-17 and 12:1-2, and then 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 to see how God's Spirit will help you with this process just like He helped me. But you must be willing to do your part as often as it takes to replace your limiting thoughts with the spiritual thoughts that are the seedbed for your abundant life. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1103: Poor and Needy

It's obvious that when David sat on his throne, he had power. In fact, he had power before he became king due to his skill with a sling, his musical abilities, and his charisma that caused men to follow him before he had a title. The challenge David faced, and that you will face as you sit on the throne of your purpose, is what to do with that power. Will you build your own little kingdom? Will you use your power for self-centered goals, meeting your own needs, making up for the time in your life when you had little or nothing? Or will you use it to empower and serve others?

David used his position and power to consider many matters, but one of those was the state of the poor and needy of which he considered himself one. Let's examine that in this week's Memo, shall we?

THE POOR AND NEEDY

From the earliest psalms, we see David mention the poor and God's concern for them:

“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them." And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race (Psalm 12:5-8).

Then we read just two psalms later, "You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge" (Psalm 14:6). Later it becomes obvious that David was seeking the Lord about the poor because he considered himself one of them: "But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay" (Psalm 40:17).

Even though David had the promise that he would rule the kingdom, even though he regularly led his troops to victory, even though he could write poetry and songs that others sang, he saw himself as a poor man in need of God's help. In this series, we have seen times when David got a "big head" from his position, but for the most part, he tempered the effects of power with a healthy dose of humility as expressed by service to others, and those others included those who were poor and powerless.

THE POOR AND NEEDY REVISITED

Let's move on to Matthew's gospel, where Jesus' public ministry begins with what we know to be the Beatitudes, which when you stop and examine them, are quite similar to some of David's psalms:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:1-3).

Where did Jesus begin with His psalms? He started by mentioning the poor in spirit, promising that they would be the ones who would inherit the Kingdom of God. Since David inherited his kingdom, what he said in Psalm 40 must have been true: he was indeed poor and saw himself as such. God then took notice and could entrust David with the power and authority to be king, knowing they would not be his undoing.

This week's PowerPoint for Living can be summarized as

Your throne is a place of power and authority in your sphere of influence but you must keep your thinking clear that God has entrusted you with a significant responsibility to serve others who are as needy as you were and are. Don't be impressed with your own success.

Are you poor in spirit? Do you realize your deep need for God in the midst of your situation? If you haven't been promoted yet, do you understand your need for God to intervene in your lowly situation? Do you see His intervention as an expression of His grace? If you have been promoted, do you help others, remembering what it was like to be where they are? Have you found the balance between being dependent on God and also being the fruitful leader He requires?

The key in all this is to remember where you've come from and who are you before the Lord, then stepping into your purpose not as one who has earned it, but as one who is determined to make the most of it. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1102: No Hiding

Have you noticed how often we have discussed fear in this and in the previous two series? While you may tire of the topic, the Spirit of God has done this with purpose, for there's no greater enemy to your faith than fear. In fact, unbelief is not the antithesis of faith: fear is. The fear is then the seedbed for your unbelief. In Psalm 11, we see how David handled the voice of fear in his life:

In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”? For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates (Psalm 11:1-5, NKJV).

Voices within and without were urging David to flee from danger, so let's examine how David responded.

TAKE COVER

Some believe that this psalm was written when Saul was trying to kill David, but it could have happened at any point in David's life, for he was always facing danger from his enemies. When the advice came to flee, whether from allies or the voice inside his own head, David examined and responded to the thought so he could come to the right faith conclusion. In Psalm 11, we see that he concluded, "Where can I go that God isn't there? He's with me wherever I go and He's testing the righteous but actively opposes the wicked."

It's true that David did flee the presence of Saul and then later in his career he ran for his life from his son Absalom. And we read later in the New Testament that the Apostle Paul had to escape from his enemies from time to time. But in all those cases, flight was a last resort, for David and Paul had confronted their fears—or perhaps it's better to say God had helped them resolve them. Both men saw the reality of their situation—that God was bigger than their enemies and used that truth to calm and soothe their inner turmoil.

MORE THAN ONE WAY TO HIDE

Most of us will never face mortal enemies, those people who want to do away with our lives. We will, however, face critics and persecutors and will have to learn how to deal with them if we're going to do God's will. Of all your opponents, the more daunting ones lie within, where like self-doubt, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and fear of sorts tend to breed and thrive—things like fear of success, failure, poverty, ridicule, inadequacy, just to name a few.

I've written quite a few books but every time I start a new one, I have to battle inner enemies: "This is no good. No one bought the last one, who's going to buy this one? You've written this before." I post regularly on many social media platforms, but must face fear daily that no one is reading or that my impact is small, if not nil. When I speak at a new venue and or to a new audience, I have to control my fear. If I don't do all that, I'll run away and hide—I won't write, post, or accept invitations to speak. My fear, like yours, triggers two internal responses: fight or flight. David's friends were urging him to flight; in most cases, however, he decided to fight, even if it was only with his internal fears.

Are you hiding from who God made you to be? Have you succumbed to the voices of your friends who don't want you to be disappointed when you fail? Are you fleeing from the internal voices that sound so rational as to why this isn't the time to go, write, create, learn, start, or build? This week's PowerPoint for Living can be summed up as follows:

You must face the temptation to hide or flee from the size of your assignment or the terrors of your purpose-directed life. That will require that you not hide from your feelings or the reality of your challenges, but to process them in the light of the fact that God is watching and able to preserve you as you go.

If you're going to live an abundant life, you can't waste your creativity and energy on how not to do what's in your heart. Face your fears and then determine (and it is a decision you can make) not to hide but to be bold in doing what it is that God has created you to do. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1101: Answered Prayer

Let's continue to search for clues in David's life that will help us live an abundant life as we sit on the purpose throne God has given us. This week, let's start with Psalm 7, where David was crying out to the Lord because of a man named Cush who was trying to take David's life:

Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice. Let the assembled peoples gather around you, while you sit enthroned over them on high. Let the Lord judge the peoples. Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High. Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure—you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts (Psalm 7:6-9).

David prayed for vindication and for an end to the violence that was being waged against him. Did God answer his prayer? Let's see if we can find out if and how He did, but to do so, you'll have to read on.

PRAYER ANSWERED

David wasn't engaged in what I call ritual prayer. He wasn't putting in his dutiful prayer time like He was doing God a favor or giving God something that He needed. David was praying fervently and urgently because his life depended on it. God's purpose assigned to him depended on it. His family depended on it. David wasn't praying "now I lay me down to sleep" prayers nor was he praying according to some predetermined words or formula. He was crying out, "Help me, God, or I die." I would say David was supremely motivated to cry out and have God hear his prayer.

The good news for David (and for us) is that God not only heard him but answered as we read in Psalm 9:

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities;even the memory of them has perished (Psalm 9:1-6).

David understood that prayer is a two-way street: David would pray one way and God would return the other way with an answer. That's a simple formula that we need to follow and expect. Our job isn't just to pray; our job is to get answers to prayer.

ASK ANYTHING

Jesus made a startling, radical promise in John's gospel. First he said,

"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:12-14).

Taken by themselves, those verses seem to promise God will grant any request a believer makes, but of course, that's not the case as James explained: "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:3). The context for what Jesus said is the believer bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God and is repeated for emphasis in the next chapter: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other" (John 15:16-17).

Simply put, this means that God will give you whatever you need to fulfill your purpose and bear fruit, but you have to be clear as to what you need, ask in faith, and then give thanks—with love for others as your motivation. Therefore, your PowerPoint for Living is

God wants you to fulfill your purpose and will provide what you need to do so. Your job then isn't just to pray but to get answers to prayer so you can bear fruit.

Are you? Are you praying, that is, and seeing answers? Are you holding yourself accountable not only to put in the time in prayer but also to track your prayer request progress? Can you report answers to prayers that assisted you in fulfilling your purpose and expressing your creativity? God is listening to you when you pray. Don't waste those moments in that divine connection on meaningless, frivolous requests, but put before God what you need to get His work done. If you want to do great things, you have to learn to ask God for great things. As you do, watch for His answers according to the promise that Jesus made for any and all who believe in Him and desire to bear fruit. Have a blessed week!

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Memo 1100: Internal Enemies

In Psalm 4, we read these words of David: In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8, emphasis added) but just two psalms later, we read,

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame (Psalm 6, emphasis added).

Why on one occasion did David sleep like a baby but on another occasion cry like one? Why could he sleep through one night but be unable to sleep the next? Let's try to answer those questions as we continue our search for PowerPoints for Living that will help us live the abundant life. Let's get started.

NO REASON GIVEN

We're told in the heading that David wrote this psalm but we have no historical context. We don't know what he was facing or why he was so distraught. All we know is that he had enemies, they were evil, and he was fearful for his life—concerned that the Lord would withdraw His protective presence. My sense is that David wrote this psalm much earlier in his life than he wrote Psalm 4, but the editors who compiled the psalms decided to reverse the order. Whatever the order, the circumstances had David so on edge that he couldn't sleep, weeping the entire night.

If David wrote this early in his royal journey, then we can conclude that by the time Absalom pursued him many years later, David had learned to control his anxiety to such an extent that he could sleep while surrounded by his enemies as he reported in Psalm 4. In Psalm 6, he couldn't sleep just thinking about his enemies. He couldn't sleep in Psalm 6 not specifically because of his foes but because of his terror over them, and his sense that God was about to abandon him to the grave. David's problem was his internal response to an external situation.

THE BATTLE WITHIN

We tend to think of our enemies as those outside of us, our critics and opponents, or folks who don't think or vote like us. Yet our greatest enemies are within—fear, doubt, anger, hatred, worry, and anxiety. David could face a nine-foot giant and sleep while his enemies surrounded his tent, but his internal enemies kept him up at night. His progress from Psalm 6 to Psalm 4, from sleepless nights to sleeping soundly, shows us that we can learn to manage our internal foes to the extent that we can change the way we think.

Otherwise, what did Paul mean when he wrote, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5)? We must have the capability with the Spirit's help to change the way we think to produce peace and rest: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

Therefore, this week's PowerPoint for Living is

You can learn to have victory over your inner foes if you spend the time and employ the Spirit's help to take your thoughts captive and replace them with life-giving ones.

How is the battle inside you going these days? Are you resting in the promises of God? Are you confronting and overcoming anxiety, fear, and doubt? Are you involved in the hand-to-hand combat required to take every thought captive? David ended Psalm 6 with a declaration of his confidence that God was with him and would ultimately defeat his enemies. Do you have that same confidence? Are you willing to pay the price to get it? You didn't establish your thought habits overnight and they won't be changed quickly, but with steady effort and faith you can make the same journey that David made from Psalm 6 to 4 and enjoy rest, both at night and during your waking hours. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1099: Termites

Let's continue our look into the psalms to see what they can teach us about David that will help us live the abundant life Jesus promised. This week, we move on to Psalm 58 and look at a word that we seldom hear much about, but it's something David deployed all the time:

Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies. Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions! Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short. May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun" (Psalm 58:1-8).

In this study, we want to look at the practice of lamenting as a spiritual exercise steeped in faith.

UNSPEAKABLE SORROW

Sadness and grief are parts of our human experience. When we're faced with deep sadness, and everyone is at one time or another, we respond in different ways. Some allow their sadness to morph into depression, others to anger. Some deny there's anything wrong and soldier on, while others blame God or other people. Some attribute their grief to bad luck and wallow in self pity. If you're going to live an abundant life, you must learn how to handle your setbacks and disappointments. You have to learn how to deal with the world and life as they are and not as you want them to be.

When David was sad, bewildered, angry, or frustrated, he went to the Lord. That may sound super spiritual and it probably was, but what he said was brutally honest, shocking even to the informed, spiritual reader. In Psalm 58, David writes how he feels God should deal with the wicked in no uncertain terms. He asks God to "tear out their fangs," "let them vanish like water," and "may they be like a slug that melts away." Pretty strong stuff.

David was in the throes of unspeakable sorrow but he spoke it. He laid it out before the Lord, holding nothing back. In essence, he was entrusting his anger, sorrow, and confusion to the Lord. He didn't act out what he was saying. He didn't deny the reality of what was in his heart. Instead, he took it to the Lord in graphic terms and was honest with God. This process that includes raw emotion, intense words, and bitter cries are all components of what we call lamenting, and David lamented on more than one occasion.

HONEST TO GOD

In my early days of ministry, our finances were pretty lean. Then one day we discovered that termites were doing a lot of damage to our home and our insurance policy didn't cover the damage as we thought it would. Thus, we were stuck with a large bill we couldn't pay. At first, I shrugged it off and made faith confessions that God would provide. But the longer we went without the provision, the angrier I became. Then one day, I was preparing for a sermon but couldn't focus. The Lord and I "had it out" over the termites. I won't go into all the details, but at one point after two hours of wrestling with God, I picked up a book, threw it against the wall, and said, "God, You're not helping me and it's not fair!" I was lamenting although at the time, I didn't know what that was from a biblical point of view.

It was then I felt the Lord speak to me: "You think those termites are bigger than I am!" I stopped what I was doing and broke out in deep laughter, for in one simple phrase, God had addressed the source of my anger. I had been honest with God and He in turn had gotten honest with me. I'm convinced that if I hadn't done what I did, He wouldn't have revealed what He did.

If you study the laments in the psalms, they all ended the same way my termite story did: The psalmist poured out his complaint but at some point, God broke through and the writer's tone turned from anger and despair to worship and hope. Are you being honest with God? Are you afraid of the messiness of pouring out your heart to Him and waiting for His response? This week's PowerPoint for Living can be summarized as follows:

When you're honest with God, then, and only then, will He be honest with you, and you need His perspective if you want to have joy and peace in the abundant life.

After the Lord spoke to me, He provided a workman who did our repairs for free! I still chuckle when I see a small termite and think of how I had fashioned my God to be even smaller, but my honesty before Him allowed me to see the folly of my ways. God's waiting to adjust your attitude and perspective but will only do so when you admit to where you are, not where you want to be or think you should be. Have a blessed week.

Memo 1098: Bed Time

As we examine David's life for clues on how we can lead an abundant life, we have turned to the psalms to see what we can find and learn. This week, let's look at Psalm 4, one of the many David wrote:

Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4, emphasis added)

Last week in Psalm 3, we saw this phrase: "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me" (Psalm 3:5, emphasis added). Since both psalms mention sleep and rest, let's look a little more closely at what David may have been trying to tell us. Over the years, I've read much about David's rising early for his devotions, but I've never noticed anyone talk much about what David said we should do while in bed. Let's get started.

SLEEP HABITS

Who among us hasn't lost sleep for some reason? Sometimes we're overstimulated by viewing something right before bed or because we drank too much caffeine. Maybe we're worried or excited about a relationship or the outcome of some possible event. Sometimes we have bad or good dreams that we can't stop replaying in our minds. Occasionally, we sleep to escape the realities of life that await when we get up.

Then there's the highly individualized manner in which we approach sleep. Some need more, some less. Some retire early while others are night owls; some rise before dawn while others consider 11 a.m. "early to rise." Whatever our sleep habits may be, David had some thoughts on the 'work' we should be doing before and after our bed time.

We see that he told us to 'search our hearts' while we're on our beds and to 'be silent.' This must mean that early in the morning or late at night, David recommended we stop and listen—to our hearts and for the Lord's voice. In Psalm 63:6, David wrote, "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night." The prophet wrote in Isaiah 50:4, "The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed" (emphasis added). Paul wrote not to let the sun go down on our anger—to deal with it promptly before we go to sleep (see Ephesians 4:26). We see from all these verses that our time in bed is to be used for more than sleep.

ON DUTY

There's no such thing as being off-duty when you're serving the Lord. Whether you're eating, playing, working, learning, getting up, or lying down, you're to be mindful of Him. You're to think of Him and His goodness throughout your waking hours, and you're to transact business with Him in your first and last moments of consciousness. You're to trust the Lord even as you prepare to spend up to one-third of your day in an unconscious sleep state. When you do that, David seems to promise in both Psalm 3 and 4 that you'll have peace when you recline and thus sleep well.

How are you sleeping these days? Is your sleep restful or restless? Are your dreams pleasant or not so much? Are you taking time to thank God for the gift of another day? Are you wrestling through issues until you've released them to the Lord and have peace? As we saw last week, David learned how to rest well even when he was surrounded by his enemies, providing proof that it can be done even in the toughest of circumstances.

Your PowerPoint for Living the abundant life this week is as follows:

You have important work to do on your bed. This means that before and after you sleep, you're to check in with your God who neither sleeps nor slumbers to take care of your spiritual business: prayer, listening, confession, praise, questions, and thanksgiving.

As a God worshiper, even your bed time is an important part of your devotion to Him. Make the most of it by doing the business you need to do that will grant you meaningful rest which will then equip you to serve God and others while you are awake. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1097: "Be There In A Minute"

We're searching the psalms for lessons and insight from David's life that will help us live an abundant life as Jesus' promised we would. In our search, we want to distill one main point which I'm calling a PowerPoint for Living that will help guide you to the place of power and fruitfulness God wants you to have. Last week, we looked at Psalm 73, which wasn't written by David, and read a third-party affirmation that spoke to his skill and integrity. This week, we go to Psalm 3, which David did compose:

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people (Psalm 3).

Let's get started to see what we can learn that will help you be more in the flow of God's purpose.

ON THE RUN

The psalms are in the order they are for a reason. The first two psalms serve as kind of an introduction and then Psalm 3 is the start of book one (there are five books, each collection of psalms in the book with a general theme). As you read the psalm in its entirety above, it's not really complete without the heading that describes the context for the psalm: "A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom."

You can read about this story of Absalom, David's son, who wanted his father's throne so much so that he incited a rebellion beginning in 2 Samuel 15. When Absalom rebelled, David had no recourse but to flee Jerusalem with his allies because his son had the popularity and following that put David in mortal danger. In other words, David was running for his life. Yet someplace along the way, David stopped to write Psalm 3. I can picture him in his camp, perhaps in a tent, not knowing how close his enemies were. Those with him were standing outside the tent, urging David to hurry: "Our lord, we must go. Now! Scouts say Absalom's men are close. We've no time to lose."

However, David replied to their pleas, "Be there in a minute. I just want to finish up this entry in my journal." When you look at Psalm 3, it wasn't written in the past tense. It doesn't say "how many were my foes. Many rose against me." David didn't write this years later as a memoir; he wrote it as it was happening. And what was his disposition while he was facing this latest threat to his life and throne? "I lie down to sleep. I wake again. The Lord sustains me." All present tense. All written under duress. All composed while his life was in danger.

AND NOW YOU

You say you can't be creative or fulfill your purpose right now because you're under so much pressure. You promise to do what's in your heart "one day," once the kids are finished with college, or your arthritis settles down, or the mortgage is paid, or the world isn't such a crazy place. You claim to be waiting on the Lord, and it seems like God just won't get your enemies off your back so you have enough time and energy to do His will.

Yet David was writing while he was literally surrounded by his enemies. He seemed to be sleeping well. He prayed that God would fight his enemies, and he wrote poetry and psalms because he couldn't control what his enemies were doing. He could only control what he was doing. And he decided to write poetry, while his armed guards paced nervously outside his tent and his scouts sent word that the enemy was fast approaching.

What excuses do you rely on that soothe your conscience because you've talked yourself into fear and out of faith? What circumstances surround your tent that you're convinced are limiting and preventing you from doing much except go to church—and even that can be a chore? What have you been putting off doing, telling the Lord, "I'll be there in a minute" while you hide in the tent with no intention of coming out any time soon?

To summarize, this week's PowerPoint for Living is

People who lead an abundant life don't make excuses. You must learn how to bear fruit and rule through your purpose in the midst of your enemies and other distractions, not waiting until the conditions are perfect or more favorable.

It's time to do what David did and put your trust in God to keep your enemies at bay while you carry out His will. As you do, you'll be like David who held his head high, slept well, and wrote his songs and poetry come hell or high water, and the water got pretty high and hell got pretty close. Have a blessed week!

Memo 1096: Your Reputation

Let's continue to search the Psalms to see what we can learn about David so we can apply it in order to live the abundant life Jesus promised we would live. This week, there are three verses in Psalm 78 that weren't written by David but are a testimony to and summary of his time as king of Israel:

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them (Psalm 78:70-72).

You've probably already noticed things that are relevant to our discussion but nonetheless, let me add my two cents to the mix.

A GOOD REPUTATION

God chose David when he was yet a shepherd of sheep to be the leader of His people. David's leadership purpose began in God's mind and resulted in an assignment, a call while David was still young. However, his call wasn't just a God thing, for David had a role to play. He had to carry out that call with both integrity and skill, and had to lead, not just in title but in reality. He had to make decisions, some of them wrong and short-sighted, and then had to address those mistakes—that's where his integrity came in. What the psalmist wrote reminds me of what was said about Daniel:

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent (Daniel 6:4).

Daniel wasn't careless and he carried out his duties with the utmost care and, like David, with integrity. It seems that both these short statements about David and Daniel were written by someone else, which says that they both had a reputation for skill and honesty, and others knew they could be trusted to carry out their responsibilities with excellence. The wisdom writer summarized it this way: "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold" (Proverbs 22:1). In short, both men had a good reputation.

YOUR TURN

Now God is giving you an opportunity to make an impact in your world in the time you have left. If you want to make the most of it, here are three things to keep in mind and pursue:

1. Never stop learning and growing. Both Daniel and David had skill. That means they were good at what they did. They weren't counting on God doing what only they could do, but they were counting on His help as they sought to do their work in a way that would honor God and help others.
2. It matters what others say and think. You're not leading or serving in a vacuum. Others are involved and they're watching and judging all the time. Don't take shortcuts where ethics are concerned and be mindful that you're building a reputation that will either enhance or detract from your leadership, and influence what others think of the Lord you serve.
3. When in doubt, serve others. Both men used their positions of power to empower and serve others. Daniel served a pagan leader and culture and David served his people, whether he was the king or not. The best way to gain a good reputation is to be among those who will formulate and disseminate that reputation. Make your encounters with them count for good.
   

So to summarize, this week's PowerPoint for Living is

Be aware that you're establishing a reputation by the things you do and how you do them. While God has called you to your purpose throne, you have a role to play in your effectiveness while on it and what people remember about you once you step down.

Now get busy doing the day-by-day work of doing and being the things you want people to remember about you now and when you're gone. Have a blessed week.