What did it Really Cost?

For you have been bought with a price… 1 Corinthians 6:20

My Sisters and Brothers, you who are His treasure,

Jesus has an encounter with a woman who had been sick for twelve years. The crowd pressed in on Him from every side when suddenly He felt power go out of Him! I always saw this story from the perspective of the woman and her faith. Now I was jolted by another perspective. Luke 8:43-46

“a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.”
Jesus is not just anyone!

Power went forth from our LORD; it cost Him something to heal. And that power which went forth from Him passed into the poor sick woman and in her  it became peace. “Go in peace” He said to her. So as you pour forth power to help others, that power- if you are living deep in your Lord and Master and drinking deep of His Spirit- will pass into peace for others, healing and peace. Ac

Though I had read this many times, this was a new thought to me that Jesus paid a cost to heal her. It may be a new thought to you also. It is well to remember Jesus lived in a human body that grew weary, experienced hunger and thirst, required sleep, sweat and bled and shivered in the cold, as we do. He felt the drain of those who clamored for Him to meet their needs. The whole human experience was His. As my children were growing up there were many days I felt the drain of meeting their needs. It costs to love.

It cost God the Father to send God the Son to rescue us…

It cost the Son to leave God the Father and walk in the world He created.

It cost the Son to be placed as the seed in the womb of a young Jewess and be born in a humble stable

It cost Him to dwell among the earthly, He who possessed all the glory of heaven

It cost Jesus to be be the Lamb of God and be mocked, rejected, misunderstood, forsaken and suffer the torture and humiliation of crucifixion.

The cost was horrendous for Jesus and His Father, when the Father turned away from His Son as the sins of the world were laid on Him.

It cost His life to purchase our freedom on the cross with His blood and satisfy God's wrath against our sin.

It cost Him immeasurably to LOVE us!

 Meditating on these Truths cause me to ask ‘Why would He do this for me?’ Then my heart bursts with being loved so deeply by Jesus and worship floods my soul.

  
These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. Rev 14:4

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. I Cor 6:19-20

 What is the cost of living?

Purchased I am not my own! I must ask: ‘Does my life speak of the wonder of His forgiveness and the wonder of who He is?’ I long to be with Him now and dance before the throne. Then I concede ‘it is enough for now’ that He indwells me. “Love through me today LORD and enable me to embrace the cost. For I am crucified with Christ and death to 'self' is the cost of living for Him each day. It costs to love a lost world and those God has given us. Gifts cost something…. a gift of love will cost us precious time in our busyness and require dying to self and to pride. Choose to love.....
TODAY:

I will give the gift of laughter, laughing with someone is loving someone. I will loosen up and learn to laugh at myself. I’ll be fun and Dance!

 I will give the gift of love and write a note to encourage or send a card snail mail or email and brighten someone’s day.

 I will give the gift of really listening to someone. It is a rare gift of love that doesn’t half listen or interrupt.

 I will give the gift of praying for someone and with someone.

 I will give encouragement as the Holy Spirit leads.

 I will give the gift of saying thank you to those who serve me in any capacity. A grateful spirit is a wonderful gift to give.

I will say I love you to someone and give an appropriate embrace.

The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matt 25:45 (wow! are you dancing?)

  

Father, Cost-payer, thank You precious One for redeeming me. I am in awe of You and the horrific cost You paid to save me. When power went out of You did it drain your body of strength and energy? Were You ever homesick for Your heavenly home? Lord I am so thankful for the cost You paid; for You understand the hurts we live in our earthly walk. Thank You for your nearness and comfort.  In Jesus

Bought with a price,

az

 

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Thankful?

Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the LORD.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name;

Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually. Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, I Chronicles 16:7-12

My Brothers and Sisters, chosen by God,
God's word is living and powerful and surprising! David was King. The Ark of the Covenant was back in Israel and it set David's heart to rejoicing and his feet to dancing! Food was distributed to each person in Israel. David appointed Levites to minister before the Ark of the LORD and celebrate by giving thanks and praising the LORD. Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the LORD. They were skilled and trained in singing and musical instruments.
 
Picturing myself a relative of Asaph, I wondered what would I be thinking about my assignment? Giving thanks is a spontaneous action of my spirit and far from something assigned to me! My spirit bristled at this phrase until I reflected on the Psalm which followed. It was filled with beauty and worship and praise to our LORD; expressed in singing and with musical instruments. This was coupled with the speaking of a His wonders. Verse 11 calls you to seek the LORD and while 'seeking' the LORD and His strength, remember His wonderful deeds and in verse 29 ascribe to Him the glory due His name! With word and song praising His attributes now and forever!

My desire was to have my complaining heart transformed into one joyfully surrendered and actively worshiping God in my daily walk! I believe I needed to settle a few things for this to happen. The key was to decide what I believed about God. Did I believe He is good? truly and deeply believe this? Hand in hand with this is 'Do i truly believe He is in control of all things?' If I do would I not surrender to Him and embrace His will and do so without insisting on understanding? If I am complaining over how my day is going that either reveals I do not believe He is good or I do not believe He is Sovereign. If He is good and Sovereign... making no mistakes, worthy of all praise and always acting out of His goodness while superintending my day, would I be grumbling? For if a Christian cannot thank and praise God as well in calamities and sufferings as in prosperity and happiness, he is as far from the piety of a Christian as he that only loves them that love him... For to thank God only for such things as you like is no more a proper act of piety than to believe only what you see is an act of faith. (law)

It was then I thought of I Thessalonians 5:18: 'in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' It is easy to say these words but living them in the mundane calls for death to the flesh. When my attitude is grateful and I am being thankful in word and attitude, I bring Him glory. It was exciting to see in some mysterious way the giving of thanks and making known His deeds is symbiotic! Hand in hand this heart moving scripture (I Chron 16:29) further instructs us to bring Him an offering and worship in holy array. And Hebrews 13:15: Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. This is such a powerful verse I am drawn to stop typing and fall on my knees with a hungry heart. I want to know this kind of thanksgiving. Praise that costs the giver.

Thankfulness is the opposite of griping and is ours through reckoning ourselves dead with Christ and alive with Him. Surrender to the Holy Spirit fuels a grateful spirit. It comes through Christ... it is not the natural outflow of my human heart, but by His enabling, His life through me. Giving thanks is to be continual, not a Sunday thing, not a Thursday in November thing, nor is it dutifully contrived thing any other day. 
Begin today. Begin giving thanks for small things which is often the most difficult. God is worthy to be praised no matter what He allows in our day. I believe the sweetest praise given is that which costs. It is praise rooted in sacrifice... the fruit  of my lips. Thanksgiving spoken or sung aloud. I believe this discipline will grow into full blown, daily praise to our King bringing Him pleasure. This too is a mystery... How can rebellious, sinful human bring this amazing God pleasure anymore than an ant crossing your foot could 'give' you anything?

Praise: He loves me and He is good.
Praise: He attends my way in perfect wisdom because He is Sovereign and in control.
Praise: For He is worthy to be praised regardless of how I 'feel' or what mood I am in.

O that we would be a praising company before the throne to bring honor to our King. Can such praise be 'assigned'?  It's embarrassing to admit, at times I find it hard to be grateful even when it is a good day. This reveals just how terrible and ungrateful my sinful nature is and I must choose to surrender to Galatians 2:20, 'not I but Christ'. Only then will His fruit produce the sacrifice of praise in and through me. 
The world is filled with negative words and actions. Let us see it as an opportunity to make known His deeds by simply being thankful and expressing it throughout the day... yes even while driving, or waiting in line, a long line. Even when disappointed and in the face of rejection and loss we can remember the goodness and faithfulness of the LORD and find we are lifted up and strengthened as we speak by faith words of thanksgiving. 
Lord, help me to brag not about who I am but about who You are. Never let me run out of words to praise You for your goodness and kindness. AS

May grumbling cease for it cannot co-exist with a grateful spirit. We wound our loving Father when we are ungrateful.
Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols. Ezekiel 6:9

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;  Isaiah 63:10

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
II cor 4:17-18

When we look on the Cross, and really see Jesus  and believe His faithfulness, how can we gripe and grumble? Let us rise in His strength and count it all joy? Paul was so content in his prison he sang songs in the darkness and stench of his surroundings, which provided him with more than sufficient reason to complain. How unfairly he was treated and beaten and maligned. But He sang praise... make today one of praise. Read all of  I Chronicles 16 for a real blessing.

Father, worthy One, I seek Your face! I want to be faithful and thankful and remember your faithfulness and wonderful deeds. Splendor and majesty  are before You. I exalt you. You know how I struggle every day with being grateful. Forgive me and change me! I want to go beyond birth truths and know You intimately. Teach my sisters and brothers and me how to be grateful and offer You the sacrifice of praise and to glory in Your praise. I ask You, Compassionate One, to lift us above the rebellion of complaining. Thank You for Your nearness  and Love. Your nearness is our good. In the name of Jesus, amen

Assigned to give thanks,
az

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If you want to know how to receive Christ as Savior and know forgiveness of your sins, click on this link:  http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm

Doveseye a once a week email devotional: http://az-doveseye.blogspot.com/

God's Way

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.  Eph 2:5-6

Greetings my Sisters and brothers, who are made alive with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms,

 The Father has enfolded us in His very heart and His intention is for our hearts to find our all in Him. We, who were dead in our sin are made alive in Christ!   I do not want to ever let these words become just words! Hear these words by FWG

"Think of the fast embrace with which I find myself held, right to the heart of my Father, when I discern my position in His Beloved Son. Grace, absolute sovereign grace, has set me there- to show its exceeding riches throughout time and eternity. What could effort of mine have done in this matter? What can failure of mine undo?" 

 And Julian of Norwich was reported to have lamented that her longing for God seemed vandalized by her constant battles with sin. I can relate to this and so it sets my feet to dancing to know not a single one of my sins can undo God's grace or surprise Him!  

Focusing  on my sin, whether I am overcome by it or fleeing it at a full trot, pleases the enemy of my soul. Why? Because either way I am constantly occupied by it and it keeps me from the sweetness of practicing the Presence of God. As believers we find it distressing to discover the tyrannical nature of our 'old sin nature' which obstinately refuses to be controlled. We become concerned with denial of self, (sin nature) and desiring to grow spiritually we fight to defeat and subdue sin in many ways; but God has only one way.

1. Mortification

Self-denial, some resort to removing themselves from society and natural human relationships; to fast, pray and struggle to subdue their osn.

2. Victory

We fall into the struggle to control our osn by more Bible study, meetings, more prayer- but it falls short of effectual change.

3. Revival

Hold special meetings, confession, surrender, resolutions and hope for change- but change is rare.

4. Growth

Humdrum repetition of their spiritual list of 'do's and don't's, multitudinous church activity and duties expecting time to bring change. But self never changes into anything but more of the same. "That which is flesh is flesh" John 3:6. The flesh can be extremely evil, violent, angry, hateful, lustful or deceitful. The flesh can also look good on the outside and be full of deadly poison... pride, resentful, unbelief, jealousy, unloving and self-righteous. OUCH! Did you feel the pinch?

5. Confession

This entails keeping up to the moment in confessing your sin and asking for cleansing in the precious blood.  However John 1:9 has to do with the sins already committed and not with the source (self) from which they emanate! "The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my 'old man'. It needs the the Cross to crucify me...the sinner...Our sins are dealt with by the Blood, but we ourselves are dealt with by the Cross. The Blood procures our pardon; the Cross procures our deliverance from what we are..." WN

6. Experiences

Different spiritual experiences are offered in churches. We must be careful that our experience isn't simply our flesh on the loose in rampant pride seeking gifts rather than the Giver. As valuable as experiences may be they must be in agreement with Scripture for God says "no flesh will glory in my Presence"! I Cor 1:29 NIV  Things so easily becomes about us; like an infection in the blood. Hear this please: Scripture teaches Calvary comes before Pentecost. Death with Christ precedes the fulness of the Spirit! Where there is no death with Christ we will not know resurrection power. Speaking in tongues and other spiritual gifts are good but so much easier to counterfeit. Where as deep, humble love which readily dies to self and washes the feet of others, that serves for an audience of One, that gives generously, suffering without complaint, Love which can shake the world.... because it is empowered by the Holy Spirit and impossible without Him, Love that goes against our nature because it is costly.. requiring death to self.... this cannot be counterfeited so easily. So beloved brothers and sisters be careful, relying on God for discernment. Remember just because something is supernatural, does not make it authentic or guarantee it is from God. We have an enemy that lives by deceit and Satan counterfeits what God does. John 15 speaks frankly about this. How much better to bear fruit for His glory than strive for outward gifts. When we surrender to God's way to deal with the flesh we open the door for Him to be  manifest in us by His Spirit and all He chooses to give us is eternal.

God's Way

The flesh will only yield to the Cross; not to our resolutions even though well intended, not to self-effort, not to attempts at self-crucifixion, only to co-crucifixion, crucified with Christ. We receive the benefits of all Jesus did at Calvary simply by reckoning on or believing in the finished work He alone accomplished. How wonderfully He has provided for us. What a glorious day when we come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. I John 4:16

 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 2:20,22-24

You who are greater than all your gifts, great in compassion and purpose. You alone are God.You are the living god who endures forever! Your word is true. Your dominion is also eternal and You have prepared a place for me! Your nearness sets my feet to dancing and I long for the day I will dance before Your throne in worship of Your beauty. All You do in my life is to create the likeness of Christ in me for Your glory. I cannot comprehend such love as I experience in Your Holy Presence. LORD you set my feet to dancing! I long to dwell with You but You  are telling me it is enough for now, that You dwell in me. So I rejoice in You... in Your greatness, nearness, and sweet Presence. Help me to want Your will more than my own way! I am crucified with Christ. In whose name I pray amen.

Your Way,

 az

gramzkidz.com/Home_Page.html

If you want to know how to receive Christ as Savior and know forgiveness of your sins, click on this link:  http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm

Doveseye a once a week email devotional: http://az-doveseye.blogspot.com/

Two Days Longer!

I would have despaired 

unless I had believed 

that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
 Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
 My heart is full for God is good, there is nothing but goodness in Him! My feet are dancing for He delights in me... but there are times I am not dancing and one of those times is when I am made to wait. God allows waiting to try my soul and I hear no music to call me to dance before the throne.  God's waiting room encompasses a variety of waiting experiences. Are you in His waiting room now?
 'See in this a chance to die' ac Have you prayed years for something or someone and are weary of waiting? Are you in a painful marriage that has less life than a squashed bug? Has unemployment suffocated the hope out of you and panic rises like bile? Has fear linked arms with you and been tormenting you with 'what if's? Have you longed to be transformed into the likeness of Christ but see no significance change? Are you waiting the results of a medical test?
In the waiting room there is often shame and discouragement, darkness and whispered lies of the evil one who is the father of all lies. (John 8:44) There is a haunting unknown. Will tomorrow bring the same-ole, same-ole or unprecedented change? The fear of nothing ever changing can undo us and leave us weak-kneed and a prisoner of unbelief.
Where is God in this endless waiting? The enemies whisper "If" God loved you why are you here? He has forgotten you. He has lost interest and has moved on to other things. There is no job and this foolish activity of yours has produced nothing, hear me? nothing! If you were skilled enough you would be working. Something is wrong alright and what is wrong is with you! Satan wants discouragement to blanket you with a darkness in your soul, leaving you with stale air of confusion to breathe. Are you pacing, fists clenched with frustration and anger? Are you fed up and want out? Where is God in all this? does He hear? Will He bother? Where is He?
'See in this a chance to die' ac

Listen to Job's tormented cry:

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him" 

David cried out in  Psalm 35: 22-23

You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me.
 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

Do you find yourself in His waiting room? He is there. The enemies waiting-room lies cannot alter Truth. Paul also faced the enemies of hatred and accusation, travel delays and trauma of ship wrecks and snake bites and misunderstandings. Paul faced each difficulty as 'seeing in this a chance to die' and as opportunity to wait on the Lord, resting in His wisdom and grace. O that we would use all our difficulties, disappointments, delays and trials of faith as Paul used his. The desire for God's glory burned in the hearts of these men and God strengthened them in His waiting room. David's waiting-room response song was thanksgiving and praise.

I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods.
On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul. Psalm 138:1 & 3

In vs 10, Job's faith states 'God knows' following the torment of verses 8-9:
 “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.


Mary, Martha and Lazarus loved and served Jesus. He frequently stayed at their home. When Jesus was beyond the Jordan, Lazarus became very ill. Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus for they knew He could heal their beloved brother. When Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, He stayed 2 days longer in the place where He was.  Try and taste this 48 hours! Place yourself there in the house where death hovered without invite. Ask yourself: why would Jesus do that? It wasn't for lack of love... see John 11:5. Verse 4 is the key: But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
When Mary and Martha heard Jesus reply they must have thought He would soon arrive and their brother would not die. But Lazarus worsened and died and now they had two choices as they grieved and awaited Jesus arrival:  

1. to focus on circumstances  

2. to focus on Christ and His words

My flesh is frail and fraught with fears. How easily I crown myself King and crown my perspective and perceptions as Truth. But contrary to this I must behold Christ. I must choose to believe His word. Like Amy Carmichael, I can choose by faith: 'to see in every situation a chance to die'. My flesh never willingly dies, not even in small, personal ways, but I am called to the crucified life. (Romans 6)
This is what God has taught me in my waiting: 

God's timing is perfect.

God's timing is about God's glory.

God's timing is about accomplishing His will and purposes..

God's timing is hemmed in with a loving purpose.

God's timing is not about us anymore than the Christian life is about us.
Let us be very watchful that the inner life, communion with the Lord Jesus, be the true source of our activities. mjs

Father God, Ruler of the Universe, Lover of our souls, You on whom I wait, You who have intricately timed all the minute intricacies of Creation, I bow. How tempted I am to focus on anything other than You! It is so easy to focus on my growth or lack of growth... my busy day... relationships good and bad. But You want all these to cause me to run to You and climb up on Your lap and let You enfold me and hold me and heal me and nourish me. I give You thanks for all the plans You have for me are good and purposed to accomplish Your will and purposes, Your glory. Forgive my grumbling and for allowing fear to encompass my spirit when I stopped 'beholding You!' Don't let me miss anything You have for me as I wait. O that I would make Your waiting room my sanctuary and lift my voice in praise and worship with thanksgiving. For to be Truth centered, I must be Christ centered! Teach me to focus on You for I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. And it is in His blessed, Living and holy name I pray. amen



Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3


Hidden with Christ,


az

Do You Believe Psalm 18?

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. Psalm18:6

Fellow Believers who are the Lord’s delight,

This week brought me such blessing as I read His word. It frequently speaks of His greatness, revealing another nuance of His character and being! Hear this familiar verse of Psalm 18 speak again to your heart just as it did to mine when out of my distress, “I called on the LORD, He heard my cry for help, my cry for help came before Him into His ears!  Such a slight difference in wording brings out this wonder of wonders…. Our cry comes into His ears! He does not just hear our cry, God embraces it. Doesn’t this powerfully suggest His love? Think of times when you were talking to another person and they may ‘hear’ you talking but in actuality they are not listening. There is no God like our God. His word is full of light for those who want to follow our LORD for it wonderfully speaks to us wherever we are at in our journey.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down…
The LORD also thundered in the heavens… He sent from on high, He took me; 
He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, (18:9, 13,16-17)

David shouts that God came busting forth to rescue him from all that would drown him!

David wrote this after a terrible time of testing. King Saul pursued David  to kill him and he was forced to live in caves, open fields and the hills to escape Saul’s satanic pursuit.  

The words of David’s song (Psalm 18) portray his story. Verse 19 which states the amazing truth that enabled David to hang on; has impacted me deeply.

He brought me forth also into a broad place; 
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

How can this Holy God, the Most High, Creator of the Universe, care so much for foolish humans? And foolish me reacted this week doing a foolish thing.

 Yes, I had been up most of the night at the hospital, after my husband’s ambulance ride and was exhausted emotionally and physically. But this is not an excuse to give into the old sin nature and lose control. Leaving the hospital, (I just wanted to be home) I should have met with serious consequences and shame; and ill-will from one I love. Instead God rescued me. With mere inches to spare he rescued me from backing into a car in the parking ramp because of my ill temper! The truth of God’s rescue washed over me again and again in the following days, humbling me far more than if I had experienced the consequences of my poor attitude. I was thinking about it while walking the next day and it caused me to weep as I was overcome by such love poured out on me! I cried out ”Why do you bother with us humans? With such a foolish child as me?” Instantly sensing His Presence I quieted and heard two words:

“My Promises”.

Wow! Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them who put their trust in Him. Prov 30:5  

God loves because that is who He is. God is faithful and cannot break His word because that is who He is.

Pastor JJ:

       “God’s grace will humble us far more than our sin does.”

 Now I know the truth of this simple statement! Grace is bestowed, not earned and it has power to bring you to your knees!          

The devil understands the power that is behind such preciousness in God’s eyes.DW   Satan is out to kill, steal and destroy and discourage us in our walk. Believing God delights in us is a source of awesome power and peace and rest. Satan will remind us of our sin. Cause us to doubt we are loved. He will cause you to question how God could love such a one as you, who always falls short of pleasing Him, God has to be disappointed in you for all your failures! Or the enemy may suggest that if God delighted in you, why would He allow the troubles you have had to deal with in the past year? Choose to focus on Psalm 18 not on past failure. David realized this awesome, Almighty God, rescued him because He delighted in David. And David in faith has embraced this God-love. Amazingly this Holy God delights in us too! 

What a joyful life ours is, continually proving His tenderness in the very little things. There is nothing too small for Him to help. He is indeed a Barrier between us and our pursuers. How precious is His lovingkindness. ac

Psalm 18 states that God Himself

He hears us because He delights in us!

He rescues us because He delights in us!

He is our stay, because He delights in us!

He delivers us because He delights in us!

He strengthens us because He delights in us!

Let the ‘verbs’ in Psalm 18 encourage you today.  It sets my feet to dancing! Do you believe he loves you? Good! But go a step further “Do you believe He delights in you?” Answer honestly. Ask God to give you faith to believe that you are His treasured possession in which He delights.

Living God, You who delight in your creation. You who are righteous beyond imagining!  I want to say I am so thankful for who You are and that You never change.  Thank You too for being a God of deliverances and for rescuing your children again and again. Blessed be Your holy Name. My trials are opportunities to prove You are who You say You are…. Savior, Lover of my Soul and beyond my understanding… that You delight in me. O Lord give me faith to believe this and faith for each of my sisters and brothers to truly and deeply believe You treasure them and delight in them, for it will set us free. You alone are Life and Purpose and I give myself to You.  Allow me to bring You glory now and forever. In Jesus holy name amen.

Much Love in Jesus,

az