The year of clear vision, Pillar #2: Teach me to number my days
2020. For me it’s a no-brainer. I need clear vision; God has pre-ordained this year to be called 2020; therefore, I am determined to embrace His focus for my life. I believe this pleases Him.
On Christmas Day I was drawn to six concepts in the Psalms. I realized that if I cooperated with the Lord and fixed my heart to pray for His grace to walk in these principles, then my vision would be enhanced, not diminished. I decided to call these principles Pillars—supports for clear vision. Pillar #1 was the Fear of the Lord.
Pillar #2: Teach me to number my days
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
One of the greatest vision-chokers may very well be the one-two team of Complacency and Carelessness. Other synonyms for these “illustrious” vision-stranglers might be dillydallying; dawdling; fiddling around; puttering; goofing off (my favorite term); and my mom’s personal favorite when describing me as a kid getting anything done: piddling around.
Now you Type A personalities may need a little goof off time now and then to give your body and mind some time to unwind. However, for us “piddlers”, the very human tendency to sigh “Que sera, sera…whatever will be will be…” as we flip the remote or link onto the next click-bait may be the very thing that is hindering us from running our race with any level of endurance.
That’s why this verse grabbed my attention. The Lord never put all the responsibility for the direction of your life on YOU! Teach us to number our days! He’s willing to teach you how to effectively order your time day by day, stringing week to week, month to month, and year to year…for the asking.
I believe that if I will daily ask the Lord to teach me how to number my days and order my steps (see Psalm 37:23), then wisdom will come. God is pleased to teach us life skills—especially those skills which enhance and advance His vision and purpose for our lives. And bonus—you and I will not only increase in wisdom, but we will also have more divine appointments along the way!
But beware—there’s another vision-choker that comes with insidious stealth—the voice of distraction! First Corinthians 14:10 states, There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without meaning (King James 2000 Bible). I don’t know about you, but I have found that distractions come in many voices. Urgency; insistence; demands; pettiness; fear; silliness; you name it—each one has a distinct voice. How do you wade through the voices of distraction?
Lord, teach me to number my days that I may present to You a heart of wisdom. Talk to God. Pour out your request first thing each morning before the voices start hammering for your attention. Wisdom will come. You will discern that proper route to take; you will also discern which routes to delay or to avoid altogether.
Vision can get crimped by pressure piling up from every direction. That’s what actually causes glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness—pressure on the optic nerve resulting in the death of individual vision nerve cells. That’s why I plan to rise up every morning before the pressures of life start screaming for attention and simply ask the Lord to number my days. Then, when all is said and done, by His mighty grace I will be able to present to Him a heart of wisdom.
Pillar #2 for 2020, the year of clear vision, is to ask the Lord to teach you to number your days. Pillar #3 will be coming soon.
Dorothy
© 2019, Dorothy Frick
Read MorePillar #1 in the year of clear vision: The fear of the Lord
The older I get, the more I realize that things once clearly centered in my field of sight have become a little fuzzy. I’ve been praying, as many of you have been, about this new year and decade ahead, seeking God as to what my focus should be as I enter 2020. Then it dawned on me that sharper, clearer vision is something that I not only desire but also desperately need.
How convenient—in light of my deepest need—that the upcoming year is 2020! I have been crying out for clearer vision; and now the very name of the year will inspire me daily—I have indeed entered the year of clear vision.
On Christmas Day I read through some Psalms and found six scriptural pillars which will prepare and empower me to walk with clear vision in 2020. You’re welcome to claim these for yourself as well. Today’s post concerns the first Pillar.
Pillar #1: The fear of the Lord
Who understands the power of Your
anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? Psalm
90:11
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy. Psalm 147:11
“But that stuff about God’s fury and the fear due Him—it’s so…negative!” you may be thinking. Actually, it’s quite the contrary! Grab a concordance and run the references on the fear of the Lord, and you will find an amazing catalog of treasures that follow the sincere fear and reverence for God: knowledge, wisdom, favor, and length of days, to name a few.
But what is the fear of the Lord? It’s certainly not paranoia; neither is it anxious terror or dread. It is simply the open recognition that God is the Author and Creator of all things; He is the One who determined that YOU would win the egg/sperm lottery; He’s the One who has always been a silent presence in your life; and He is the One to whom you are ultimately accountable. If you seek to live your life according to this understanding, then there’s a good chance you have the fear of the Lord.
How do I intend to ramp up the fear of God in my own life? I plan to daily remind myself that Jesus is Lord and I am not. I will be asking Him every day to help me make decisions based on His Word, His purpose, His leading, and His kindness; and I will ask Him to intervene—to tweak my conscience—when I start to move into selfishness, thoughtlessness, cowardly fear of people’s opinions, or when I wander upon any of the other hundreds of landmines that may be laying in wait to shatter my vision, my effectiveness…or even my life.
The fear of the Lord is not a bad thing at all. I find it comforting to read that He takes pleasure in those who fear Him—He doesn’t shoot at our feet to make us dance like the cartoon character Yosemite Sam did to Bugs Bunny. Instead, the fear of the Lord is linked forever in Psalm 147:11 with an expectant hope in His mercy.
So, Pillar #1 for 2020, the year of clear vision, is to walk in the fear of the Lord. Pillar #2 is coming soon.
Dorothy
© 2019, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreComparing
For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. 2 Corinthians 10:12
When comparing is the wrong choice
Have you ever found yourself thinking that someone else has it so much better than you? If you have—as I have at various times—you probably also noticed that your thoughts were not infused with the spirit of love and grace! Instead, if you were honest with yourself at all, you would have recognized jealousy, bitterness, and possibly even some hatred rising up within you. And as the apostle Paul wrote, that attitude of bitter comparison shows a dire lack of understanding on your part.
On the other hand, have you ever found yourself thinking that you were better than someone else? If so—as I have, also, at various times—you may have noticed that your mindset was not like Christ’s—with humility of mind regarding another as more important than yourself (Philippians 2:3b, paraphrased). In fact, if you were at all self-aware, you would have recognized pride, arrogance, and possibly even some hatred lodged like a rock within your soul. Once again, as Paul wrote, that attitude of a smugly superior comparison reveals a blatant lack of understanding on your part.
What do you do when you realize you’ve compared yourself to others, whether from jealousy or superiority? Acknowledge those thoughts and attitudes to God, own them before Him, make no excuses for yourself, and repent. Apply 1 John 1:9 to yourself and trust God to help you to walk comparison-free.
When comparing is the right choice
…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… Philippians 3:8a
You know not to compare yourself to others, whether for better or for worse. But here, Paul is directing all of us to compare two deeply important aspects of our own personal lives, one to the other—knowing Christ Jesus as Lord vs. Everything Else.
As I look around my home—my safe, secure, comfortable home—I recognize that in comparison to what others own, it lands on both sides of the spectrum. It’s better than some, not as nice as others. And I’m OK with that because my value in life is not in what I own.
However, Paul wraps it all up—possessions, wealth, beauty, talent, prowess, position, reputation, and even spiritual “ranking”—in the same package he calls All Things. He then compares that total package of his whole life to ONE thing—knowing Christ. Guess which wins?
In fact, Paul states this: “Everything else is loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ.” Knowing Jesus—in ever-increasing intimacy—causes everything else in your life to take its rightful—and subordinate—place. Knowing Christ doesn’t denigrate everything else, but it certainly allows you to put it all in perspective. Knowing Christ is far more valuable than Any Other Aspect of your life, whether your possessions, wealth, beauty, talent, prowess, position, reputation, or spiritual “ranking”.
I pray we all grow in our full appreciation of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.
Dorothy
© 2019, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreJesus’ advice to sheep in the midst of wolves
Wow! This just came up on my Facebook page as a “memory”. I wrote it three years ago, but it hit the bullseye for what I’m going through right now. Here it is:
I can’t sleep yet. I had three Scriptures weighing on my heart as I laid in bed weeping and praying.
Jesus said, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt. 24:12) He saw it coming across the millennia. He told us this not to scare us but to prepare us.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Prov. 4:23
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matt. 10:16
You and I are NOT accountable for the conditions of anyone else’s heart. We are each accountable for our OWN heart, attitudes, actions, and behaviors.
Therefore, what I am telling myself I will share with you: Don’t let your love grow cold, guard your heart, be shrewd [alert] AND be innocent.
May God’s blessings, protection, discernment, and direction be on all of us as we navigate this crazy world.
–Dorothy
Read MoreWhy I pray for America
I wrote the following about four or five years ago. It is a passion I intend to pursue the rest of my days:
As I look at my nation, I must pray. It’s in my DNA; it is built into the very fabric of my relationship with God. When I see obstacles in my nation, I am challenged by my rich heritage to stand my ground and trust God.
I feel I owe it to the Founders who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guard, nurture, protect, and defend the fledgling nation.
I owe it to past generations of men and women of God—Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, William J. Seymour, Billy Sunday, Maria Woodworth Etter, and all the rest, both known and unknown—who took advantage of their American liberty to pour out their lives for the cause of Christ.
I owe it to my dad, who although he never claimed to know God intimately, was willing as a young man to risk his life in service to a country which guaranteed that his daughter, yet to be born, would bear the sacred right to lead her own life, speak openly, and worship God without any fear that acting on her convictions could lead to loss of her freedom…
I must pray. I must pray the Word of God over my nation. I must seek her deliverance when evil threatens her. I must stand my ground even if it takes the rest of my life. I can do no less, so help me God.
Read MoreA prayer of consecration
Father, You said in Your Word that if I would delight myself in You, You would give me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).
Lord, You’ve been very good to me, but You’ve been no genie! My wish has NOT been Your command. I understand WHY now better than I did before; I also appreciate Your great wisdom in it, as well. Now I am asking You to sort through and filter my wants and desires so that the chaff—the wrongly-motivated, wrongly-based desires—blows away by the wind of Your Spirit.
Also, please filter through my expectations. Those presuppositions that I’ve placed on others which have not been conceived by Your Spirit, I release to You to abort and eradicate. I ask that a right spirit, a right heart, and a willing soul be renewed within me and that all my expectations will arise from Your Word and intimate fellowship with You—not from what I THINK people ought to do.
Thank You, God, for cleansing, removing, rebuilding, and reordering my desires and expectations so they more fully align with Your purpose. And I believe, according to Psalm 139:23-24, that the “hurtful way—the way of pain” will no longer have a voice within the recesses of my soul.
Thank You, God!
Read More