A Citizen of Zion

(Psalm 15)

Psalm 15:5c
He who does those things will never be shaken.

This verse is the very last sentence of Psalm 15. If you were to only see this sentence and not know what came before it, you would probably ask the following three questions:

1) Who is the “he” referred to in this verse?

2) What things must “he” do?

3) Why won’t “he” be shaken?

Who is the “he” referred to in this verse?
The “he” referred to in this verse is a true citizen of Zion. He is someone who God has allowed in His presence; someone that God has allowed to hang out with him. He is someone who lives a life of consistency. He is someone with integrity and speaks the truth in his heart. He is a true friend who realizes the power in his tongue to speak life or to speak death and he always chooses life. He sees sin as God sees sin. He is a model of fairness.

What things must “he” do?
He must begin each day with a praise in his heart and a desire to spend time with God. He must realize that in his own strength, he is weak; but with God’s strength, he can do all things. He must see through God’s eyes and not his own. It is through God’s perspective that he discerns good from evil.

Why won’t "he" be shaken?
He won’t allow life to change his perspective. Even in storms he will see God’s strength as a tree planted by the waters, strong and unmovable. God may not keep him out of the fire, but He will go in the fire with him. The fire won’t have the same effect on him that it has on others. His clothes will not be singed. The fire will not destroy him because the Lord Jesus is with him.

He is a true citizen of Zion.

If you were to do a self-evaluation, what about yourself must you change to become a citizen of Zion?

I think if we are all honest with ourselves, there are flaws in everyone’s character that must be changed to truly say that we are a citizen of Zion.

Are you willing to change?

God Bless you.

In My Father's House - Part I

Who Dropped the Baton?

In reading II Chronicles, I was amazed to see how different a lot of the sons of kings were from their fathers. The Bible made a point to note whenever a king did good or evil in the sight of the Lord. While a king was noted to have ruled well and did good in the sight of the Lord, it was not guaranteed that his son who took his place on the throne would rule in the same manner. As a matter of fact, there were many sons who did evil in the sight of the Lord even after their fathers did good.

I had to ask myself several questions after reading this:

1. How could this be?
2. Did the kings who ruled well in the sight of the Lord worry so much about their kingdoms that they forgot about their homes?
3. How could a man’s son see God so much more differently than he?

I just came to the conclusion that these kings, as good as they were and as well as they ruled in the sight of the Lord, dropped the baton.

When you really think about, it is not that much different today in a lot of homes. We live in a day and age where there are so many fatherless homes and homes where fathers are not actively engaged in their children’s lives. My Pastor makes a point to tell all the men in our congregation that we must rule well. Ruling your home well, deals more with what goes on inside the home than it does outside the home. It is our responsibility as men to mentor and disciple our wives and children. Our homes should be good soil that allow our seed (children) to grow and produce good fruit.

Our children have to make up their own mind about God, but we should be showing them God’s goodness and grace everyday so that when they are grown they have a history with Him. It’s this history that serves as a foundation that will prove to weather storms that would otherwise push them over the edge.

We must build up the idea generational cycles where the baton is properly passed from one generation to the next. A smooth hand off of the baton could be the difference between winning and losing, but more importantly, life and death.

God Bless you.