Psalm 118:24 NLT, “This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Every time the Lord allows us to see a brand new day, we can choose to “rejoice and be glad in it”. I like the idea that no matter what, we have a choice. Since His goodness and mercy are following us, we can confidently face each new day. God’s presence with us, surpasses any negative thing that may come our way. His love far outweighs even our greatest worries.
Rising above our circumstances and choosing to rejoice, may not always come naturally. However through Christ, we can supernaturally make a decision to trust God and rejoice. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
Psalm 23:6 KJB, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
This verse is a regular prayer of thanksgiving for me. I find myself telling God often that I’m thankful for His goodness and mercy that follow me all the days of my life. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for His goodness and His mercy. The fact that He is good, and has mercy on us is a big part of the reason we are even still here today.
His goodness and mercy is an extension of His great love for us. Remembering how good and merciful God is, is a humbling thought. Because He is so good and merciful to us, we can extend the same thing to other people.
What a joy it is to know that the Lord’s goodness and mercy is following us everyday. What an honor and a privilege it is to worship the Lord and dwell in His house forever.
Psalm 5:12 NIV, “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”
It’s comforting to know that as children of God, we are surrounded by His favor. We’ve been made righteous through the precious blood of Jesus. Because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf by giving His life, we now have the blessing of God’s favor.
The favor of God that rest upon our lives, allows us to experience God’s plentiful blessings from day to day. His favor also keeps us safe from things and people that are not part of His plan for us.
Since we have God’s favor, we do not have to walk in fear. Instead we can walk in confidence. We can be confident knowing that God’s favor is with us no matter what we may face. His favor surrounds us with His love and protection.
I pray that you will have peace knowing that through Christ, the favor of God is surrounding your life.
Psalm 145:1 NLT, “I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.”
No matter what is going on in our lives we can look up to our God and give Him praise. He is our Strong Rock, He will never fail us. He is our Great Hope, He will never disappoint us. He is our Faithful Father, He will never abandon us.
His love for us will endure forever.
He is our Peace when we are anxious. He is our Strength when we are weak. He is our Joy when we are discouraged. He is our Fullness when we feel empty…
In His presence is fullness of joy, and eternal pleasures forever more. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Let us praise His name forever and ever.
Being still is not usually something that is heavily promoted nowadays. We have to be intentional about deciding to be still. It’s such a privilege to be able to let go and trust God. He will take care of our needs.
Psalm 46:10 NIV, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
This verse always gives me comfort, because it calls us to rest and let God be God. It encourages us to just exhale, and relinquish our concerns and troubles to Him.
Things get hectic at times. We won’t always have everything figured out. We won’t always know why certain things happen or why some people do the things they do. But we don’t have to.
We can just be still in the midst of it all and know that He is God. Since He is God, we don’t have to worry. His love will cover us and protect us, and His eyes will faithfully watch over us day and night.
Take time out each day to be still, and listen as God speaks to your heart.
Psalm 37:4 ESV, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
As we delight ourselves in the Lord, our desires will begin to line up with His. We will think more like Him. We will act more like Him. We will make loving Him and pleasing Him a priority.
Even though God allows us to go through situations that help us to mature into godly people, He still wants us to enjoy our lives. The good thing is that, He knows what we are mature enough to handle. He will not give us blessings that we are not ready for.
I remember when my daughter was little and I would drive her to daycare. I would always pass a park (River Bends Park, which ended up becoming my favorite park). I used to think to myself, if I didn’t have to go to work, I would go to the park to walk and spend time with God. God heard this desire, and about a year later, I felt He was leading me to leave my job. After a few months of making excuses not to leave, I finally left. Almost every morning after I put my daughter on the bus, I would head to that park.
River Bends Park in Shelby Twp, Michigan
In order to have my desire fulfilled, I first had to obey God and leave that job. For me, it was a huge leap of faith since I was a single parent. I knew leaving my job would mean putting myself completely into God’s hands and trusting Him to provide for me and my daughter. I also knew I would have to make sacrifices financially.
It was amazing though, how God allowed those closest to me to be so supportive. He wanted to grant me my hearts desire from the moment I fell in love with that park as I was driving by. However, I had to mature enough spiritually before I was willing to take that leap of faith so it could happen.
God had an even greater purpose for me during that time than just walking in the park. I got to be a stay at home mom for that period of time, and be there for my daughter. She still remembers how nice it was for me to bring her Subway during her lunchtime at school. God also gave me this time away from work as a season of rest.
What are your hearts desires? Do you trust God to grant them to you? Just remember, it may require you to step out on faith and go in a different direction from what you planned. Or you may be challenged to do something that is not quite “normal” by the world’s standards. God has unique, and often unexpected ways of blessing His children. The best thing we can do, is have willing hearts that are ready to obey Him.
Delight yourself in Jesus Christ, then trust Him to give you the desires of your heart.
Even with the busyness of life we just have to take time to stop and be still before the Lord. When we take time out to quietly sit still in His presence, it reminds us that He is the One who can handle all of our worries. Just being still, gives us the opportunity to exhale and enter into the peace that the Holy Spirit desires to give to us.
Psalm 46:10(NIV), “…Be still, and know that I am God…”
When stress tries to consume us, we just need to be still. Our God is able to carry every burden we have. He will strengthen us and keep us safely in His care. There is no trial that is too great for Him. As we sit quietly before God, we experience the comfort of His presence. We can sense that His love is surrounding us, and living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. As we are still before the Lord, He will bring healing to our minds and hearts.
Don’t be afraid to be still. It is in taking time to be still, that we come to know and understand that He is God.
Drawing Closer to Christ 