Greater Joy

In hope I pray: Answer 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.

[God declares me innocent because I trust in the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ, instead of in my own righteousness.]

The psalmist instructs: Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD.

[The right spirit is “willingly and joyously”—1 Chronicles 29:17. And we are to “Trust, rely on and have confidence in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed (securely) on His faithfulness”—Psalm 37:3 Amplified Bible.]

With joy I offer You praise, Lord God: You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

(Image is Public Domain.)

[The joy of abundant harvests and new wine lasts only until they are used up. God gives lasting joy—joy in His presence and pleasures at His right hand forever more—Psalm 16:11.]

(See Psalm 4:1,5,7 -NLT)

Immanuel–God With Us

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.” (Psalm 73:23 NIV)

Thank You, Lord, that You always hold me by my right hand as I walk through each day. When what I do seems just routine, You are with me. You know everything I think and do. May I bring honor to You even in the everyday things. If I stumble, You pick me up and steady me. When I face challenges, I’m encouraged by Your firm grip of my hand. And as Psalm 23:4 says, I will fear no evil because You are with me.

“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge….”Psalm 73:28 NIV)

I praise and thank You, Lord, that although You are sovereign over all the earth and heavens, You have made the way for me to draw near to You in Christ. Indeed, how good it is to be near You! Amen.

Psalm 138:6: “Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble….” (New Living Translation)

You are my help. You, the Maker of heaven and earth, are here—always and everywhere, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 121). I love You, Lord, for Your greatness which is great enough to care for even me.

Refuge and Help

“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:9-10) “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) (Both Scriptures NKJV)

Lord, I read about people who are persecuted for their faith and praise You for being a refuge for them—the oppressed. Then I hear a testimony of how You strengthened a mom with a part-time job and 8 children at home. Yes, You are the Lord our Strength! Yet sometimes I wonder about my own unimpressive life with its few troubles—I need You too. I can’t manage life on my own.

I believe You talk to pastors and other Christian leaders, giving them wisdom and guidance. Still I feel unsure that I can hear Your voice when I just feel stupid and embarrassed and wonder what to do next.

The Lord Is Our Refuge.

So I will remember that You came, Jesus, giving up Your throne in glory and the honor You had in heaven from before the foundation of the world. You suffered and died, and (Hallelujah!), You rose again. You did all this so I could become a child of God and have a wonderful life with You, now and forever. Such amazing love! You care for me with overwhelming, everlasting, personal love. And Your Word says in Romans 8:32 (NLT), “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” “Everything” must include large and small, important or not.

Therefore, I can believe You are also MY refuge and strength.

Lord, our God, I seek You today as my refuge and choose to put my trust in You, even in what seems unimportant. I love you, Lord. Thank You, Jesus, for caring for me.

The God Who Loves

I received an invitation that reminded me of a painful incident from my youth. I prayed:

“Jesus, You were there when it happened. You longed to quiet my pain, but I thought I had to handle it myself. Why couldn’t I receive Your love and comfort? Perhaps back then I knew You only as a far-away God or as a Spirit who didn’t enter the reality of my daily teenage world.

“But now I know You better. You are Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth. You are also the God who loves each person You created. You see us, not just as a group, but also as individuals.
“And You are the God of all comfort, the God who knows when a sparrow falls and who counts the stars and yet also knows the ever-changing number of hairs on my head.” (See 2 Corinthians 1:3, Matthew 10:29-30, Psalm 147:4.)

Dear Lord Jesus, Savior, Friend,
I want to sing Your praise again.
You are my life, my God, my King,
Ruler over everything.

Jesus, You are all I need.
I want to learn Your voice to heed
So I can walk in Your good plan,
Son of God and Son of Man.

Anger tries to push You off Your throne.
Bitterness turns my heart to stone
I reject these things that cling to me
And accept Your offer to set me free.

O Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Cleanse and heal and make me whole,
As I repent and seek Your face
And the kingdom of Your grace. Amen.
(See Ephesians 4:31.)

Glory

My Old Testament Bible reading one morning, Exodus 36-38, gave a lot of yawn-producing (at least for me) repetitive detail about the wilderness tabernacle and its furnishings.

But I thought about how You, God, “gifted Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen with wisdom and ability” in construction so that the result was perfect and beautiful (Ex. 36:1). And you also put on the hearts of the people such willingness to give that they had to be told to stop because so much was given.

Oh the beauty and glory of that tent and furniture where You dwelt with Your people! Yet how much more beautiful and glorious is Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And He lives in me.

Lord God, may I become purer and purer and more transparent so Your beauty will be seen in me. Amen.

Hope in the Lord

(Picture from Pintrest)

“I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once,” so the poster said. I laughed because on some days it does seem like life is like that. On those days, maybe I could take some tips from the Psalms:

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God…!
Psalm 62:1, 5 “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.”
Psalm 100:3 “Acknowledge that the Lord is God…!”
Psalm 131:2 “I will calm and quiet myself like a weaned child with its mother.”

And I could remember Isaiah 40:31 “Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength….”
Oh, may I remember to put these verses into practice next time I feel overwhelmed!

Where Wisdom Starts

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). I wonder what kind of fear that is. It must not be the fear that He will reject me if I accidentally do something wrong or that He will give up on me if I fail too many times. No, it can’t be fears like that because that fear involves torment, and God’s perfect love casts that out (1 John 4:18).

Rather, surely that “fear of the Lord” recognizes His awesome power, might, intelligence, and total authority. It acknowledges that He is God, and I am not; that He is the potter, and I am clay; and that He is absolutely righteous, pure and true. It is fear that seeks to obey His commands and walk His way. And obeying Him and His laws always results in a better outcome than anything I or any other human being could plan or do. Thus, the fear of the Lord is indeed the beginning of wisdom.

Chosen Part 2

Some years back, a Bible Study group I joined sang a song based on 1 Peter 2:9:

“But you are a chosen generation,
A royal priesthood, a holy nation,
A peculiar people, that you should
Show forth the praises of Him
Who has called you out of darkness,
Out of darkness, out of darkness
Into His marvelous light,
Into His marvelous light.”

A piano rendition is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPZgG83drMY.
The song was apparently written by Jeanie Clattenburg.

As I said before, how wonderful to be chosen, and how marvelous to be called for a purpose!
Lord Jesus, thank You for making my life worth living. Amen.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” –1 Peter 2:9

Colossians 1:13 also talks about that amazing transfer from darkness to light.“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”

Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord.

(Image from Pinterest)

Our Help Is in the Lord

One of my favorite names for God is “Maker of Heaven and Earth” because it spoke peace to me in a crisis a few years back. At that time I searched for comfort one night by leafing through the Psalms. I came upon Psalm 124:8—“Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth (NKJV).” I could relax. No matter what happened, my hope was in the God who made heaven and earth. It would be all right.
So when God points out to Job in Job 38 the greatness of His creative acts, I’m reminded to praise the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Some things to praise God for from Job 38:4-11 NIV:
You, Lord God,

• Laid the earth’s foundations;
• Marked off its dimensions;
• Shut up the sea behind doors when it first burst forth;
• Clothed it with clouds;
• Wrapped the sea in darkness;
• Fixed limits for it;
• Told the sea, “You can come this far, no farther,” and “Here is where your proud waves halt.” (And it obeyed.)

Wow!!
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. Oh, my soul, praise Him, for He is my help and salvation! All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near. Join me in glad adoration.”–from the hymn ”Praise to the Lord the Almighty” (lyrics and video at https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/praise-to-the-lord-the-almighty/

Thanksgiving and Praise

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Yes, Lord, You are so good! You are good and do only good (Psalm 119:68 NLT). I praise You for Your total goodness. I also thank You for Your goodness to me.
Thank you for your unending mercy and loving-kindness! How I need Your mercy! If I continued to look at how often I’ve failed to show love or have gone my own way, surely I would faint from discouragement. But Your mercy is fresh every morning (Lamentations 3:23), and it endures forever! Thank You!

In the New Living Translation, “loving-kindness” is translated “faithful love.”Thank You, Lord, for Your faithful love! Your love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).

“Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever! Who can put into words and tell the mighty deeds of the Lord? Or who can show forth all the praise [that is due Him]?” (Psalm 106:1-2)

“All the praise that is due God”—indeed, Lord, You are worthy of unending praise. No matter how many praises I sing or say, You are worthy of more.

“Bless (Affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1)

O my soul, when you are tempted to feel sad or discouraged, remember God’s goodness and mercy and faithful love. Put into words some of His mighty deeds. Then affectionately and gratefully praise your Lord and bless His holy Name. And remember that His mercy and faithful love (even for you) ENDURE FOREVER!

(Scripture quotes are from the Amplified Bible.)