What Brings You Delight?

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." 

Psalm 37:4

Merriam-Webster dictionary describes delight as, 

a high degree of gratification or pleasure

Sometimes we believe the lie that spending time with the Lord is a burdensome task. 

We think of it as hard. 
We think we don't have enough time. 
Oh! But when we actually set aside time in the morning, or afternoon, or evening, 

to sit at the feet of Jesus, it is delightful!

So why do we neglect this precious opportunity we have to be
filled, renewed, and strengthened?

Who doesn't want to be reminded of the unconditional 
Love of their Father and to bask in that love, 
soaking up every ray?

Which one of us doesn't long for guidance and direction 

in all areas of our life?

How could we pass up an invitation to release our 
worries and anxieties to Someone who 
offers to take them from us?

But...if we are honest, most of us have not cultivated this
most important area of our life. We have not intentionally
set aside time every day to read, meditate, 
and memorize God's Word and to spend time in prayer.
Even though I have experienced this to be such a sweet time, 
so many times I allow something to come and steal this 
time away.   

I implore you to make this a habit of most importance! 

It will change your life! 

God's Word is alive and powerful, sharper than a 

double-edged sword, piercing to the heart and soul, 

discerning the thoughts in intent of the heart.

His Word really will speak to you, where you are,

as you persistently sit before Him with a hungry

and humble heart. 

He has fed me, O has He fed me! And I have tasted and

seen that the Lord is good! 

This is the one challenge I have done the best at, 

and God has rebuked, corrected, challenged, 

and freed me in so many ways. 

And I know He will continue to! 

Psalm 119 is a beautiful passage that shows how David loved to

meditate on the Word and that he knew from experience

that God's ways were always the way of life, joy, and peace. 

"I will meditate on Your precepts and think about Your ways. I delight in Your statutes; I will not forget your Word."

"I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your Word"

"Help me to stay on the path of Your commands, 

for I take pleasure in it." 

"I will walk freely in an open place because I love Your precepts."

"Lord, the earth is filled with Your faithful love; teach me Your statutes."

"Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I may learn Your commands." 

"Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path."

"Since I love Your commands more than gold, even the purest gold, I carefully follow all Your precepts and hate every false way."

Jump in with both feet! Today! See how good it is to sit with

the One who loves you most and knows you fully!

If you need a little guide to start studying, I have been using the 

book The Good Portion by Heidi Baird. 

Make sure you write out your thoughts and/or prayers too. 

It helps to put things on paper.

May the Lord bless you and keep you; 

may His face shine on you and give you His peace.

🤍❤🤍

Devotional thoughts from Tiffany

      'There's a story I just heard. A mom was making pancakes for her 2 boys. The boys argued back and forth about who would get the first one. So the mom used the moment to try and teach the boys about what Jesus would do. He would let the other one go first and put others above himself. So the older boy looked at the younger  brother and said, "you be Jesus."'

      This is from a marriage study I'm doing. She used that example to show that in our marriages we tend to do this a lot without even knowing it. When our spouse hurts us we internally say he needs to be Jesus. Instead we should always be the first one to actually be Jesus. Serving our spouse, loving and forgiving, offering grace like Jesus. Wow, that really hit me. How often do we defend ourselves? How often do we think we deserve for our spouse to be the one to apologize? Treat us a certain way? Step up in different areas? When in reality if we each do our part God will work out ALL the details. Even if our spouse is 98% wrong and we're only 2% wrong we still need to focus on that 2% that needs work, and God will take care of the heart of our spouse. ️️

      Can you trust God to "fix" your spouse? Or do you think you do a better job with nagging and pointing out all of their faults?

Such a humbling study this morning . 

      I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Comment below!

What kind of aroma are you leaving behind?

My beautiful sister-in-law, Tiffany, enjoys

writing and I loved this little devotion 

she wrote up and texted to me.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 ESV

  

    "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance of death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's Word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."  

Think of an aroma. 

Has there ever been a time where someone walked by 

and the smell of their perfume was just amazing!? 

Even after they were gone the sweet smell 

lingered in a pleasant way. 

It smelled so good that you wanted to run after them and 

ask what kind of perfume is that!? 

Where did you get it!? Wow it smells so good!

To think we are called to be as an aroma of Christ. 

That wherever we go we are to speak 

of the saving grace we received through Christ. 

To think that the fruits of the spirit 

should be so apparent and present in our lives 

that wherever we go we leave an aroma of Christ.

Not in a way to make a profit or to benefit ourselves 

but that it is so natural that it flows from us 

and we leave an impact wherever we go. 

That we would allow Christ to speak through us 

wherever we go.