/ Claire van Ryn

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PSALM 13 The wrestle is real! Of all the enemies that David has named in the psalms so far, this is the one I struggle with the most. “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?” v2 (NIV) My thoughts. Sometimes the battle waged on my grey matter is so wearying that I totally identify with David’s cry, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” v1 But... The redemptive pattern of the psalms drums its familiar beat. Despair to trust. Sorrow to rejoicing. Wrestling to singing! “I will trust... I will sing...” v5-6 David chooses to wrench his thoughts from the grave to The Light. Funny. David’s choice to replace the negative thoughts in his head with song is something that works for me too! Listening to worship music when the headnoise is nasty helps oh-so-much. ⭐️(I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #jesus #pink #cuttlefish #psalm13
PSALM 12 “For every word God speaks is sure and every promise pure. His truth is tested, found to be flawless, and ever faithful. It’s as pure as silver refined seven times in a crucible of clay.” v6 (TPT) I am that clay vessel, crucible, carrier of God’s Word. The intense fire of challenging times refines what I hold within me, burning up the rubbish so that only goodness remains. I am struck that God chooses to entrust us with His Word; mere clay bearing the silver of truth and life. It sparks out from within us as we ALLOW the fire... without the fire, there is no testing, no affirmation, no testimony to share. ⭐️(I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #jesus #psalm12 #watercolour #gumleaves #creating #recreating
PSALM 11 One of God’s many names, or characteristics, is articulated in verse 2: Hiding Place. David’s well-meaning friends tell him to run away from his tricky circumstances. But he has different plans. “Don’t they know, Lord, that I have made you my only hiding place?” (TPT) Comfort. Protection. Singularity. Rest. Intimacy. Space. What does it mean to hide in God though? The next line of the psalm helps: “Don’t they know that I always trust in you?” I’m reading Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown and there are a few lines that sprang to mind when I read Psalm 11 this morning. “Even our fears become opportunities for encountering Jesus, if we let them draw us close to the Lord... Getting rid of fears is never the goal... drawing close to the Lord is what we’re seeking.” ⭐️(I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #jesus #sensibleshoes #sharongarloughbrown
PSALM 10 Good and evil. Black and white. The psalms are so stark in their descriptions and I find myself naturally siding with the writer. Yeah, smite ‘em God! Give ‘em what’s coming! Is that the way we should read the psalms, I wonder? Because in Psalm 10 I read descriptions of worldliness that have infiltrated my own thinking. Perhaps even Christianity more broadly. “He says to himself, ‘Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.’” v6 What’s wrong with this kind of positive thinking? Surely there’s no harm in positive self-talk! After all, we were told as children that we can do anything we set our minds to! Focusing on holistic wellness is hugely popular at the moment... but there’s a glaring omission. God is absent. “In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” v4 Oh, stinging revelation! I am that person at times! My head full of thoughts that cram out my Heavenly Father’s voice. In my despair I have even echoed the words of v11, “God has forgotten; He covers His face and never sees.” Of course, none of this is true. But Psalm 10 serves as a reminder of how slippery and silken the lies of Satan. How fluidly they rush into our head and poison even our understanding of who God is. (I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #psalm10 #lies #wellness #holisticwellness
YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE NY RESOLUTIONS... Yes. Most people think they're a waste of headspace. Just setting yourself up for failure. That sort of thing. Weeeeeellll, I beg to differ. I think they're super useful and they have served me well in embracing new good habits. So here's the low-down on my 2019 commitment to read a psalm each weekday. How's it going? Wanna join me? Have a read, link in bio 👆🏼😁💛 #newyearsresolution #apsalmaday #biblereading #goodhabits #devotion #quiettime #faith #psalms
PSALM NINE This psalm opens with warm fuzzies. At least, that’s how it presents at first glance. But then I felt the prickle of conviction. David writes, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart...” ALL of it, notice. Not just partway. Sold out. Abandoned. Undivided. Charles Spurgeon wrote a sermon called The Divided Heart (1859) and in it he said, “A united heart is life to a man, but if the heart be cut in twain, in the highest, deepest and most spiritual sense, he dies.” Spurgeon’s sermon was based on Hosea 10:2, “Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty.” So, you see, this is not simply an amorous one-liner. It’s a passionate pledge that applies to both the individual and the whole body of Christ. Do I praise with ALL my heart? Or are there parts of my heart that lag in their praise, that undermine the offering? Praise God that all we need is to ask forgiveness to bring our hearts back into unity with Him 💛 (I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #dividedheart #undividedheart #psalm9
PSALM EIGHT “You have built a stronghold by the songs of babies. Strength rises up with the chorus of singing children. This kind of praise has the power to shut Satan’s mouth. Childlike worship will silence the madness of those who oppose you.” v2 (TPT) We think of children as weak, vulnerable and not yet worthy of full trust. There’s a journey they must tread before they arrive at maturity. Responsibility. Independence. Those value markers. Yet, as so often is the case in God’s economy, this verse says we have it all backwards. The strength and power is with the little ones. And I think of my own children - their eager trust, their exuberance, their joy and zest for life, their snap-of-the-fingers forgiveness, their unblemished delight. Yes please! That’s my prayer today, for a faith as full of abandon as my children! For the potency of sincere trust and worship to be evident in my life 💛 (I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) 📷 by @doxa.visual #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #childlikefaith #children #joy #worship #praise #thepassiontranslation
PSALM SEVEN Fighting words! This psalm is every 7-year-old boy’s dream! Flaming arrows and sharp swords and ferocious lions! The God of this psalm is mighty, burning with righteous anger, ready to bring justice. So different to the gentle God of grace I usually call to mind. But He is one and the same. The psalmist relinquishes the fight to God. Powerful King David beseeching God to bring justice. And notice how he doesn’t exclude himself from the scope of God’s judgement. His conscience is clear. “Let the Lord judge the peoples. Judge me O Lord according to my righteousness...” v8. All the fighting words reminded me of another fighting passage. Ephesians 6: The Armour of God. Preparing us and protecting us when the attack is so often of a spiritual kind. (I’m reading a psalm each weekday - feel free to join me and share your own learnings 😊) #flampsalmaday #apsalmaday #biblereading #joinme #psalms #godisgood #shareyourthoughts #blogger #armourofgod #flammag
Spent the last two nights at #leespaddocks in the Cradle Mt National Park area with my ❤️ @phill.v.r It was amazing. Just him, me and God showing off his majesty in the mountains surrounding us 🙌🏼 And a few other campers! Happy 15 years of marriage to us ☺️ #acordofthreestrandsisnoteasilybroken #tassiestyle

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/ Claire van Ryn

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