March 2021 – Healing with Harotian

March 7, 2021March 7, 2021

Day 5 of 150 Days of Psalm Challenge

Hello Friends,

Welcome back to 150 days of Psalms Challenge. Friends, today was a challenge. I have so many blessings coming my way right now, but I’m also battling my own demons. It’s confusing to be honest. My blessings are coming at a time that I feel undeserving because I find myself summoning to the desires of my demons. I have to remind myself that this is not my fight, but sometimes the weight of the world becomes too must be bear. Either way, I wanted to get that off of my chest. That’s my “whoa is me” moment for the post.

My sponsor says I have to work on being consistent and forth coming with my truth. Unfortunately, that’s the one thing that I suck at the most; consistency! I say that to say, I apologize if any of you have been waiting for a chapter five post, but I also believe that everything happens in Gods timing, so hopefully this comes right on time for someone. It did for me.

Psalm 5

¹O Lord, hear me as I pray;
    pay attention to my groaning.
²Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
    for I pray to no one but you.
³Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
    Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

⁴O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
    you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
⁵Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,
    for you hate all who do evil.
⁶You will destroy those who tell lies.
    The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.

⁷Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.
⁸Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.

⁹My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.
    Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
    Their tongues are filled with flattery.^[a]
¹⁰O God, declare them guilty.
    Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
    that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
¹²For you bless the godly, O Lord;
    you surround them with your shield of love.

When I first read this chapter, my first thoughts were, “Oh no, God is mad at me because I do wicked things and I lie and deceive! There is no way God can forgive me for what I’ve done.” But then the Holy Spirit lead me back to the first three verses:

¹O Lord, hear me as I pray;
    pay attention to my groaning.
²Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
    for I pray to no one but you.
³Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
    Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

The words that stand out to me are “hear me, pay attention, listen, I pray, cry for help, listen to my voice, wait expectantly”. I am the daughter of the Most High. I can cry for help and He will hear me and listen to my voice as I pray. Since the beginning of Psalm, the author has been asking God to destroy his enemies. The author isn’t God enemy. You’re not God enemy. I am not God enemy. The evil forces working against Gods Kingdom and anyone crazy enough to go along with the plan is the enemy. At once, I too was crazy enough to go along with the plan to be Gods enemy, but thank you Jesus that He loved me too much to allow me to stay His enemy.

In the chapter, I believe the author is definitely warning us against the type of people not to hang around and most importantly what behaviors to watch in ourselves. I love how much of Gods love radiates from the Authors words. I feel safe after meditating on this chapter. The Author says a beautiful prayer for Gods people in the last two verses. How amazing is that? The person speaking is really going through it with this enemies and he is still remembers to pray for us!

Thank you all for sharing my thoughts tonight. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Psalm 5. What is God saying to you? What did you get out of it? I love you all and please don’t forget to pray for one another.

March 3, 2021

Day 4 of 150 Days of Psalm Challenge

Hello Friends,

I hope your day was just enjoyable as mine. Here in “confused St. Louis”, it was actually a really nice day. The sun was shining high in the bright blue sky and the unknown future seems doable every day. Although I am in day four of this challenge, I already feel a difference in my thought process. If there is one thing I have learned about this journey called life is that perception of our circumstances determines how we deal and feel about our circumstances. And when we keep my eyes focused on God, we are able to fall into His will and not our own, we are able to be of service to those around us and our loved ones, and we are able to have fun with the days that are gifted to us; knowing that we have a wonderful Heavenly Father and super cool Brother, Jesus who are strapped and prepared to take on my stress. So let’s get with it.

Psalm 4

¹Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

²How long will you people ruin my reputation?
    How long will you make groundless accusations?
    How long will you continue your lies? Interlude
³You can be sure of this:
    The Lord set apart the godly for himself.
    The Lord will answer when I call to him.

⁴Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude
⁵Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,
and trust the Lord.

⁶Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”
    Let your face smile on us, Lord.
⁷You have given me greater joy
    than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
⁸In peace I will lie down and sleep,
    for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Again, what a great chapter. The author reminds me a lot of myself. It seems, and I could be mistaken, that the author cares a lot about what people are saying about them (v. 2) when they are not around. I struggle with the same problem. When it comes to strangers, I can care less, but when it comes down to people I care about, I care about their perception of me, but the Lord says that His opinion of me is the only one that matters.

Galatians 1:10, NLT: “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

So I love how the authors continues to immediately go into praising God for all He has done. The author is also putting his complete faith into the power of God by trusting the promises that God has made us. That type of father is absolutely wonderful. They type of faith where we are staying in the face of adversity and still believe and trust in the power of God. Amen!

For me, this chapter is a reminder to keep pushing and persevering no matter what people have to say. I am on this journey because God has me on this journey. It is not for anyone to understand, judge, or scale, especially comparing myself to other around me. Thank you God for Your Word. Your power and love is incomprehensible and I’m proud to be the Princess of the Most High King. I thank You, I love You. Amen.

Thank you all for hearing my thoughts today. Please tune in tomorrow for Day 5 of 150 Days of Psalm Challenge. Love you all and please do not forget to pray for one another.

March 1, 2021

Day 3 of 150 Days of Psalm Challenge

Hello Friends,

Thank you for joining me on day 3 of the 150 days of Psalms Challenge. Technically, today is day four but yesterday was so busy, I actually forgot about it, so here we are. What matters is that we are here reading Gods Word together. If you are just now joining us, last week I encouraged my readers to read a chapter of Psalm a day and comment below on what God has revealed to us. If you have any questions or would like to message me privately, you can do so at harotianessentials@yahoo.com. Let’s dive in.

Psalm 3

¹O Lord, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
²So many are saying,
“God will never rescue him!” Interlude^[a]

³But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
⁴I cried out to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy mountain. Interlude

⁵I lay down and slept,
    yet I woke up in safety,
    for the Lord was watching over me.
⁶I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
    who surround me on every side.

⁷Arise, O Lord!
    Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
    Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
⁸Victory comes from you, O Lord.
    May you bless your people.

Thank you, Father for such a wonderful chapter. This chapter came right on time for me. I love how the author David, at the beginning is asking why are people against him (v. 1) but he goes on praise God for what He has done and what He is going to do. David’s faith in Gods protection and promises is inspiring.

When we praise God in the midst of our struggles, we take the focus off of ourselves and onto God where it belongs. When we do that, we feel peace in the middle of the storm. We are also able to see, understand, and receive all of the blessings that God has in store for us.

I also love how David was like, “and God, slap them so hard you knock teeth from their grill!” 😂 Definitely sounds like one of my prayers.

Thank you Father God for keeping every last one of your promises. Thank you for protecting us against the seen and the unseen. Thank you Father for being willing to slap a few people on my behalf so that I won’t have to. Thank you Jesus for your unconditional love, mercy, and grace. I I pray that You continue to bless everyone in need of all of You. I praise you and lift your name of high. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Thank you friends for reading my thoughts. Please comment below your thoughts on todays chapter. I love you all and please remember to pray for one another.