<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Irresistibly Fish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://brettfish.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[brettfish]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://brettfish.wordpress.com/author/brettfish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[psalmthing to chew on: psalm 31 [aka the game of thrones&nbsp;psalm]]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>verse 23 jumped out at me:<br />
<strong><br />
<em>&#8216;Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him,<br />
but the proud he pays back in full.&#8217;</em></strong></p>
<p>my translation says,<strong> <em>&#8216;The Lord preserves the faithful&#8230;&#8217;</em></strong> </p>
<p>and i found it an interesting contrast &#8211; faithful vs proud &#8211; because i don&#8217;t think we would naturally see them as opposites&#8230;</p>
<p>yet when i think of being faithful the immediate connection is the idea of &#8216;faithful to someone, or something&#8217; and that will generally require humility and service, which are much closer to being the opposite of proud</p>
<p>my nickname &#8220;Fish&#8221; stands for &#8216;Faithful In Serving Him&#8217; which is something i aspire towards more than can claim i achieve, but it really is an incredibly high value of mine, and when i get it right it is when [as in luke 9.23] i am denying myself and inviting God to take charge </p>
<p>my friend Mugabe [no relation] used to say something like this: &#8216;When God is on the throne of my life, i have to be on the cross, but when i put myself on the throne of my life, it means i have once again condemned Jesus to the cross.&#8217; it is as if i am crucifying Him again. </p>
<p>Joshua looked at the people and said, &#8220;Choose this day who you will serve.&#8221; [Joshua 24.15]</p>
<p>Jesus said, &#8220;No one can serve two masters; you will hate the one and love the other&#8221; and yeah he may have been talking about money in that specific account but the principle remains &#8211; there is only space for one king in your life. who is it going to be today?</p>
<p>there is a whole lot more of juicy stuff in psalm 31 [it&#8217;s a long psalm] but i think that&#8217;s good for now&#8230; maybe something else stood out for you and i&#8217;d love to hear it below&#8230;</p>
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