Search Me, O God

I woke up this morning with a lot on my mind and heart. It seems lately that the burdens of life have just been pouring on extra thick. I've got several close family members that are having major health issues and there is a lot of stress and suffering going on. One of those members is having a test ran this morning to determine if cancer is present.

I am also stressed over church related matters. I had to make the decision to cancel Vacation Bible School this year due to several factors. VBS has always been my passion. I was saved in VBS when I was a child and I feel like it is one of the most important evangelistic tools that the church can have. While I suppose we could have went ahead and had it, I just didn't feel that it was the right thing to do. To be quiet honest, we do not have the available staff to do it. We have lost so many members over the past few years and the ones we have left just really aren't able. There were some long-time members of the church that asked me if I would consider canceling this year, especially after the recent death of a church member. So, I prayed for the Lord's guidance and felt His approval to cancel. I realize that my decision didn't set well with a few people but if they will earnestly pray and seek God's will, they will understand why it had to be this way. It was heartbreaking to me to do it, but the decision had to be made.

It doesn't help that I am trying to stretch myself too thin. I take that after my mother. Between working a full-time job that I despise, being a father and husband, doing church work full time, and working on completing my Master's degree in Seminary, I have very little time. In fact, I feel guilty for sitting down this morning and taking the time to write this post. I just felt like I was going to explode if I didn't get it off of my chest.

So, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I woke up with a lot of burdens. In fact, I woke up at 6:00 am with all of this stuff on my mind. After praying, I opened my Bible to the Psalms. I just so happened to open it right at Psalm 139. The Lord knew exactly what I needed to hear from Him this morning. It rang so true for me and was such a comfort to my heart. Won't you read it over? It may be exactly what you need as well. When you are finished reading it, click on THIS LINK and listen to the song Search Me, O God, written by James Orr:

Psalm 139 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
and for His infinite mercies

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

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Ordination Prayer

Many people have commented about the prayer that my dad prayed during my ordination service. I thought I would upload it and share it with everyone. Oh, I also put the wrong date on the video. It should be 5-31-2010.



Transcript of ordination prayer by James Chesney for his son, Byron Chesney, during his ordination into the Gospel ministry:

"Let’s pray,
Heavenly father we come to you today on this most solemn occasion. An occasion, Lord, in which we present to you a man that we believe, has been called by you to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know Lord this is one of the highest callings there can be; the highest calling being the call to accept Christ as our Savior. But Lord we know that the ministry of the gospel is the ministry of the power of God unto Salvation to save the souls of men. Lord I pray, thanking you today, for this time that we have, this experience that we have, to present Byron to you. Lord and we pray, Lord the blessings upon him. We pray Lord that your holy spirit would rest upon him in such a way that the messages that he preaches will be powerful, they’ll move upon people’s hearts and upon people’s minds, and Lord, that we’ll see souls saved and we’ll see people reconciled to you and we’ll see backsliders come back to you. And Lord we pray that you’ll give him these great experiences as he dedicates his life to the preaching of the Gospel. And Lord we also pray that you’ll be with him during those times when they become hard. We know Lord that a Minister of the Gospel has a hard road to travel. And we know Lord that there will be times when some of the people that he thinks support him the most will turn against him. And Lord I pray that during those times that you’ll lift him up. We pray Lord that he’ll be reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ and how that He hung on the cross and all of His friends forsook Him. We pray that you will strengthen him during those times and show him that he still has the task of preaching the Gospel to those people. I pray that he’ll always preach it in love. I pray that he’ll always preach the Gospel not in the spirit of vengeance or retaliation but in the spirit of love and reconciliation reaching out to people to get them to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray too Lord, that when those times come when he sees success, we pray Father that it won’t go to his head. And we pray Lord that he’ll always understand that success that he sees is due to you it’s not due to him, and I think he knows that now, but Lord we pray for this anyway because the human mind, the human heart, is such that sometimes we allow things to affect us and we start thinking that somehow or other that it’s us, that somehow or other that we have done something great. Lord we know that it’s you; you have done the great things. Not only do we pray for him we pray for Mary. We pray Lord thanking you so much for her and standing by Byron. We pray Lord that you would continue to be with her and strengthen her and help her during times when he needs encouragement. And we pray Father, that she’ll always be there by his side and always be willing to help him during the times that he needs her. And we pray for his children. We thank you for them. We pray Lord that they will always be very pleased that their father is a Minister of the Gospel and never at any time should they ever feel somehow that they are ashamed of what he does, because Lord we know that this is one of the highest callings there could be – to preach the Gospel. And we pray for them especially Lord. Because sometimes they are in the spotlight, sometimes people are looking at them and judging them. We pray Lord for your Grace upon them. And then finally Lord, we pray that you’ll give Byron opportunity. We pray Lord believing that you called him, and we pray that you would give him opportunity to go out there and preach the Gospel and to see souls saved. And we know Lord that he prepares; we know that he studies, and I pray that you continue to help him as he learns and as he develops his preaching skills. And we pray Father, that those skills and all will be rewarded by you by offering him opportunities to serve you and opening doors that he may reach people for the Gospel’s sake. These things we pray in Jesus name. – Amen".

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