How Well God Knows Us: Part III

Posted on July 19, 2011 by James Gorton

Thuesday July 19, 2011

This jlog is a third in a series of how well God knows us and is taken from Psalm 139. When you think of God’s knowledge of us it blows my mind (not literally of course). “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. (Psalm 139:17-18 NIV). Think about this passage for a minute. I have read this passage for many years and never took the time to ponder what it is really saying. The Psalmist says that all of God’s thoughts have been precious and there are many of them. In fact all of God’s thoughts toward me are immense. They are so vast that if counted they would outnumber the sand pebbles on the whole earth. I’m sorry for pausing and thinking about this (I stopped writing and began to think about this picture and couldn’t continue for a bit just thinking about all the thoughts that God has of me.). He knows me so well. He knows every thought I have ever had. He knows when I have fallen. He knows when I have thought every bad thoughts. He knows when I have thought very good things. Every single thought I have ever had, God knows and has registered my thoughts. But He knows your thoughts as well. Every thought you have ever had. That’s how ell God knows you. That’s how well God knows me. That’s how well God knows every person on the face of the earth.

This truth of God blows my mind. Is your mind being blown as you ponder this truth? I don’t know about you, but it causes me to begin to think about what I think about and what I am putting into my mind. I begin to think about being more intentionally about my thought life and making sure that my thoughts and intentions line up with what my wonderful God wants for and from me.

Today on this journey, I want to take every thought captive to Him and allow Him to transform all that I think about.

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How Well God Knows Us: Part II

Posted on July 15, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday, July 15, 2011

Some of you reading this jlog have had the fortunate opportunity to see the life of a baby in a mother’s womb. Through the use of modern technology, a doctor puts some cream on the mother’s tummy and with a machine can see the baby in the womb and can detect whether it is a boy or a girl and can also tell whether there is one baby or twins or triplets. You can see the heart pumping, arms forming, eyes and mouth developing, all with the ultrasound. We have the privilege of seeing the baby as it is forming, but have no say or control as it is being developed. We are just bystanders. The real creator of our life is the same God that knows my thoughts before I think the thought. He is the same God that knows when I sit down and when I rise up and knows every time (the exact time) I sit or rise.

David in the Psalms says this, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV). God created my inmost being. My heart. My lungs. My intestine. My liver. Pancreas. Stomach. Brain. Gallbladder. He created it all. But David goes on to say that He also created my frame. Ribs. Skull. Arm bones. Leg bones. Pelvis. All my frame was created by the Lord. But that isn’t all. God knew and saw us in our unformed state before the egg and sperm came together. What wonderful things to ponder. David finishes by saying that the Lord knows all the days that are left for us here on this earth. He is the only one who knows us better than ourselves.

It should give us pause to thank Him for wonderfully making us and knowing what He wants us to do here on this journey He has put before us.

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How Well God Knows Us: Part I

Posted on July 14, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday July 14, 2011

Let’s do a self test to see how well you know yourself. What did you have for breakfast this morning? Who is the last person you saw? What color is your car? How many people do you have in your family? How many pets do you have? (By now you should be 5 for 5 in right answers). These next five questions are a little harder. If you are married when is your anniversary and how many years have you been married? What were the last school grades your children got? Where is the last place you took your vacation and how many days did you take off? When is the last time you had a doctors check up? How many hours of sleep did you get last night? how well did you do on these five? The last five are harder still. When was the exact second you last sat down? When was the exact second you stood up from sitting down? Do you know what you will be thinking one hour from now or one day from now? When is the exact second you will be going out of your house or when you will be coming back into your house? And the last question, what will be the next word on your tongue? I dare to say that none of you got a question right in this last group of questions. To know these questions, you would have to know yourself so intimately that you know every aspect of your life and I dare say that no one knows you that well. Well no one but the Lord.

In Psalms 139 this morning I was reading and pondered the first four verses that caused me to recognize God’s understanding of me–and you. “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, lord, know it completely. (Psalm 139:1-4 NIV). If God knows me that well, He obviously knows the steps that are best for me, and knows what kind of thoughts I need to be thinking, and also knows what kind and gentle words I need to be speaking. What would happen if I depended upon Him to move through me this day? What would happen if I allowed Him to speak through me today? What would happen if I allowed Him to reorient my thoughts for today?

On this journey, be have the supreme Being who knows what’s best for our lives and for our communication and for our thoughts and all we need to to is turn our lives over to Him for the transformation to begin.

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Idols

Posted on July 13, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Idols. What comes to mind when the word idols are verbalized? We don’t use this word in our everyday vocabulary so it is a foreign word to us. But in the old and new testament, God used it on various occasions to denote something we needed to stay away from. He talked about idols in the ten commandments where He said, “Thou shall not have any gods before Me; Thou shall not make any graven images” (Exodus 20:3-4). It is clear that the Lord was concerned with the Israelite nation that they worship Him and Him alone. In the dictionary an idol is defined as an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion. It can be a person or representative of a person. It can be an object that we admire or devote our attention to.

In my reading this morning, I came across a passage that the Psalmist wrote regarding idols that I spent some time pondering. He said, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. (Psalm 135:15-18 NIV) In this passage, he begins by saying that idols are made by human hands. It can be things that we have made or it can be things that someone else has made. He likens an idol with mouths, eyes, and ears. Idols though are anything that get our attention, our devotion, our free time. It could be the computer that I am writing this jlog on right now. It could be the golf clubs that I use on the weekends. It could be the shopping malls that I spend countless hours in to find just the right shoes or outfit (well maybe not me, as this is not something that demands my attention, but you get the picture) It is important to be alert to anything that diverts my attention away from the Lord onto man made objects that can cause me to worship them.

On this journey, there are many things in life that can grab our attention and cause us to become idol worshippers that we need to strip from our minds in walking

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God, If You Get Me Out Of This. . .

Posted on July 11, 2011 by James Gorton

Monday, July 11, 2011

How many of you have been in trouble and have ever echowed these words, “God, if you get me out of this mess I will never ___________________again (fill in the blank) Our decisions to feed our desires, our wants, our lusts get us into pickles that we never saw coming. Sometimes those decisons come from not wanting to get into trouble so we lie and the lie catches up with us. Sometimes bad desisons come from a lack of information and knowledge that had we had more information, we would have never made the decision. More likely than not, these pickles come from impulsive choices and decisions and we need an out. But there are times when trouble comes to us and we have no say in the trials or troubles that hit us on our journey. No matter what the trouble, we would much rather take a detour than face the problem. It’s in those situations that we sometimes ask God to get us out of the trouble and if a He does get us out of the trial, we will do something in return for him.

David in Psalms 66:14 had a similar situation when he said, “I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you—vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.” (Psalm 66:13-14 NIV). This passage seems to be saying that the Lord does remember what we say and what we promise to do if He gets us out of our pickle. If someone promises to do something for me and doesn’t follow through, I find it harder the next time to trust what they say. It is important to be a person of our word to one another and especially to the Lord. Have you made a promise to the Lord if He got you out of a scrape? If you have, take the necessary steps to fulfill it to Him and become a person of your word.

On this journey, be careful what you make promises to and make sure that when you do make a promise, you have the energy to fulfill your vows.

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Children

Posted on July 8, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday, July 8, 2011

There are times in life where we are reminded how fortunate we are to have children in our lives. Today is one of those days when I was a reading in the Psalms and came across this Psalms written by Solomon. “Unless the lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.” (Psalm 127:1-5 NIV)

Solomon in this passage is talking about building and maintaining. Building a house. Watching over a city. That’s what we do when we are working with our children. Helping them grow and making sure that they are cared for and are secure. If the Lord is not involved in the process, Solomon says that both building and maintaining family structures are all for not. I have found too many times that when I set out on my own course I get bogged down and begin to run in vain. It’s only when I plug into His plan and seek His direction that things run much smoother. The key in building a house that is strong and secure is recognizing where our children come from and seeking direction from the true source of healthy and fulfilling family structures–GOD.

Today I am truly blessed with such wonderful children who give me such great joy as they are walking in God’s truth. I am truly blessed as Solomon says.

On this journey, God will bring children into your life to carry the torch into the next generation.

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A Lamp And A Light

Posted on July 7, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday, July 7, 2011

How many of you have gone camping? It is a wonderful experience to get out into nature and experience God’s creation. Smelling bacon in the morning. Coffee percolating. Snuggling in the sleeping bag. Setting up the tent. Grilling steaks. Roasting marsh mellows. Sitting by the camp fire. Taking a walk. Going to the country grocery store. And O yes, having to go to the bathroom when it is pitch black. After stoking up the lantern, you begin heading out toward the bathroom light in the distance. The skill is two fold. You are looking off in the distance to keep your bearing on getting to the bathroom, but at the same time you are looking at the ground to make sure you don’t trip over a rock or branch on the way to the bathroom.

The Psalmist gives us a picture of this when he compares the word of God to a lamp and a light. He says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105 NIV). I love this passage because it says that God’s word gives direction for the future and it gives light to my path for the present. The bible is the bathroom light that we are heading to and helps us to keep our direction for our life. The bible is also the lantern we are holding that lights up the path right in front of us so we won’t trip. The lantern gives clarity for the steps we need to take today and the light gives direction we need to head for our future. If we only focus on the lantern, we will soon lose our way as we go around a tree or a bush in front of us, and we will get off track or our destination. If we only focus on the future destination (the bathroom light in the distance) without looking down, we will trip. God’s word is both for our life today and for our life in the future.

On this journey today, read God’s word to give you the steps you need to take today and look for where He wants you to head for your future.

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How Far is Far

Posted on July 6, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday July 6, 2011

I took a long July 4 weekend up to Flagstaff,AZ for some R and R and had a great time up in the pines, ponderosa pines that is. The days were in the 80’s sand the nights were in the 50’s. It took us about 2 hours to drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff and the distance was 135 miles. When I first started driving this route, it seemed to take forever to get there but over the years the trip has become increasingly easier to get there. There is a starting point and an ending point, a specific distance in which you travel. In fact when you travel there is always a starting point and an ending point, wherever you travel on this earth. But what if there were no starting point and no ending point? How far would that distance be? What if I said to you “As far as the east is from the west”, how far would that be? We’re talking about infinity here because there is no starting point and no ending point. It is hard to grasp this concept and yet the Psalmist used this phrase in his writing.

He (God) does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:10-12 NIV) The Psalmist is talking about our sins that separate us from the Lord. There are consequences for our sins that we deserve because of our rebellious nature, actions, and attitudes on a regular basis. It is God’s love for us that stops Him from giving us what we deserve, but takes our sin and removes it from us when we confess it. He takes our confessed sin and removes it as far as the east is from the west. That is infinitely far from us. The writer of Hebrews says that He remembers it no more (Heb. 8:12). Our responsibility is to confess our sin. It means that we need to take responsibility and admit our wrongs without any justification, minimizing, or denying. He then removes it and does not remember our sins of the past that have been forgiven. What a wonderful thought we can have today of a clean slate to follow Him today, looking forward to making healthy decisions for our lives without residual baggage.

On this journey it is important to cut away the excess baggage of the past so that we have energy to take the necessary steps of today.

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Undivided Heart

Posted on June 30, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday June 30, 2021

We live in a very busy world. There are basically two kinds of people who operate in this world–one ring circus type people who can only do one thing at a time and multiple ring people who are multiple-tasters. I guess you could say that I am a one ring circus person. I hated the circus when I went for the first time. There were three rings in front of me and all the rings were going simultaneously with different acts and I got so frustrated because I felt that I was missing out on so much of the circus that I determined I would never go to the circus again. A few years later my kids begged me to go to the circus and after much persuading, I went reluctantly. This time was different. The circus had three rings as before, but they only had one ring going at a time while the other two were getting ready when the spotlighted ring had finished. It as a one ring circus experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly. My focus was not divided. When you think of being in this world, you might think that the person with multi-tasking skills is better suited for working environments than those with one ring circus skills and in some situations you would be right.

I was reading in Psalms this morning and there is one area in our lives where dividing our time with multiple things is not a good thing. David writes, “Teach me your way, lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”(Psalm 86:11 NIV) When I read this passage my mind began to ponder the phrase “give me an undivided heart.” It is impossible to have a multi-tasking mentality when it comes to connecting with the Lord. Jesus speaks to this issue when He says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24) This divided heart can work well in some working situations, but it never works well when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. God wants our undivided attention when we come to Him. He demands our undivided attention. Nothing but undivided attention will get His attention and cause Him to begin to listen to us. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters. It is impossible to worship God while you are multi-tasking. God makes this clear when He said to us in the ten commandments that we are not to have any other gods before us. The bible is full of this concept when it comes to serving and connecting with the Lord. We need to be one ring circus people with our undivided attention on Him.

On this journey, cultivate the skill of being singularly focused on God that gives direction, knowledge and wisdom for the journey ahead.

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Our Days Are Numbered

Posted on June 29, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Today is the third anniversary of Cynthia’s death. She in her life touch my life, my kids life, and so many more individuals here on this earth. Her vivacious personality welcomed ones she came in contact with and you knew for that moment that some of God’s joy had been poured out on you thru her. None of us knew that this day three years ago would be her last day on this earth. I know she is missed by me and by her family and all the friends she impacted. None of us know that today may be the last day of our lives. We are not guaranteed tomorrow or the end of this day. We only know that as we are breathing we have this moment to live.

David summed it up best this morning in my reading through scripture when he said, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:10-12 NIV) We hope that we will have 70-80 years on this earth to connect with our loved ones and do what the Lord has purposes us to do, but we have no guarantees regarding the time left here on this earth. Time here on this earth flies by and each day is like water that is spilled out on the ground that cannot be gathered up again (II Samuel 14:14). We can have our lives flying by or we can become more intentional and ask the Lord to teach us how to live life. Teaching us to number our days involves seeking God and asking Him to guide and direct our lives and give us knowledge and wisdom so that we could make the most of each day we have here with those we love.

Today as you remember the death of Cynthia Ruth Gorton, I would encourage you to seek the Lord as she did in making the most of the days you have on this earth. Sometimes on this journey, it is important to reflect on those who have fallen and gain insight as to how we should live today.

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