Showing posts with label surrender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surrender. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

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.
🤍❤🤍

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

How's everyone doing?

   


  Hello to you all! I hope this post finds all of you joyful and feeling strengthened in the Lord and body. 


     So, how are you doing with the challenge? If you feel like you are failing, don't fret just jump back on, and keep striving for your personal goals in each of these areas. 

     We all have different personalities so our targets will be different. Some of us will push ourselves so hard to accomplish our objective that we burn ourselves out, while the opposite personality will set our goals at... well, just about what we are doing already! :) 

     I encourage us all to NOT do either of the above. One of us may need to "Be Still", step back, and examine whether we are getting our worth, or filling some void, by what we accomplish, and remember that our Father loves us just where we are at, even in the biggest failures and messes we've found ourselves in. The other one of us needs to practice self-discipline, pushing ourselves beyond what is easy or comfortable. We understands that God loves us, today, right where we are, but our Heavenly Father loves us too much to let us stay where we are. He sees all the things in our lives that will hurt us or damage others. He sees the attitudes and habits we have that do not glorify Him, and He longs to weed these things out of our lives. We are a work in progress until He comes to take us home. 

     The question is, are we surrendering to Him as Lord of our lives so that He is changing us? Or are we meaninglessly drifting through life living for ourselves? 

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 3:12-14 NASB
Paul encourages us to quit living in our past and to eagerly press towards Christ. Every day is a new day to run with Him!
"Put to death, therefore, what belongs to your earthly nature... " ~ Colossians 3:5 NIV
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." ~ Matthew 5:16 KJV 
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..." ~ 2 Peter 3:18 KJV
     Maybe we are working tirelessly to gain God's acceptance and others' praise. Are we just checking off all the required boxes needed to be good, yet feeling like we're trudging along just going through the motions? 
     Oh! That the Lord would show us more and more how much He loves us and that His love has always been there and always will be there. And that when we surrender to Him and follow His ways it is not burdensome or restraining, but rather freeing! It is living our lives in abundance! It is restful...peaceful...joyful. Jesus implores us-

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

     Let us soak in these words and ponder what they mean to us! Aw... what a good God we serve! 

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV