As the Lord has encouraged my heart this morning, I want to turn that encouragement back on to you, my friends and family. Now there are those of you, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!, who will be reading this...YES-YOU! BE ENCOURAGED! Some of you with whom I've spoken very recently, and I hear these words not only for myself, but for you.
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend (feed on, find safe pasture in) faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and He will act. He will bring forth your rigteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." Psalm 37:3-9
I've known this passage since I was small. But today it just leapt off the page at me. In some ways it seems to answer the other Psalms that cry out "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Ps. 13 God tells us (graciously) what business we are to be about while we actively wait for him to act. And act He will!! "Trust, do good, befriend faithfulness, delight in Him, commit your way to him, trust, Be still, wait patiently, fret not, refrain from anger, forsake wrath..." This is quite a list of what TO do. We wait actively for God to answer. God will act. This is so encouraging to me.
Probably the piece of this that most affected me this morning was to "commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." There are so many times when I keep looking for God to act, yet I haven't truly committed my way to him. I haven't asked for his glory to be seen. I've had selfish intentions. "You ask and do not receive , because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4: 3 We are sinful people, and it's hard to truly have right motives concerning almost anything in our lives. It takes the quickening influence to pray with the mind of Christ. And in order to do that we must be before Him, waiting on Him, trusting in His omnipotent Hand. So with this now in mind, I am turning again to the Lord this morning, asking for him to help me delight and commit, and wait patiently, and trust, and refrain from anger and forsake wrath and Fret Not! Not that this is some secret formula to make God work for us. Far from it! But that our hearts would be humble before a sovereign God, recognizing that all we have and will have comes from His grace. If I can trust God to save me from His wrath and the hell I so easily deserve, then surely I can trust him for everything else, which is certainly a lesser work. God will act, be assured. I have seen it, and so have you! Praise Him for that which he has already done, in saving you, then thank Him for how he will act on your behalf, for His promises are sure!
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend (feed on, find safe pasture in) faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and He will act. He will bring forth your rigteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." Psalm 37:3-9
I've known this passage since I was small. But today it just leapt off the page at me. In some ways it seems to answer the other Psalms that cry out "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Ps. 13 God tells us (graciously) what business we are to be about while we actively wait for him to act. And act He will!! "Trust, do good, befriend faithfulness, delight in Him, commit your way to him, trust, Be still, wait patiently, fret not, refrain from anger, forsake wrath..." This is quite a list of what TO do. We wait actively for God to answer. God will act. This is so encouraging to me.
Probably the piece of this that most affected me this morning was to "commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." There are so many times when I keep looking for God to act, yet I haven't truly committed my way to him. I haven't asked for his glory to be seen. I've had selfish intentions. "You ask and do not receive , because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4: 3 We are sinful people, and it's hard to truly have right motives concerning almost anything in our lives. It takes the quickening influence to pray with the mind of Christ. And in order to do that we must be before Him, waiting on Him, trusting in His omnipotent Hand. So with this now in mind, I am turning again to the Lord this morning, asking for him to help me delight and commit, and wait patiently, and trust, and refrain from anger and forsake wrath and Fret Not! Not that this is some secret formula to make God work for us. Far from it! But that our hearts would be humble before a sovereign God, recognizing that all we have and will have comes from His grace. If I can trust God to save me from His wrath and the hell I so easily deserve, then surely I can trust him for everything else, which is certainly a lesser work. God will act, be assured. I have seen it, and so have you! Praise Him for that which he has already done, in saving you, then thank Him for how he will act on your behalf, for His promises are sure!
1 comment:
And you have seen such evidence of God's faithfulness in his provision for you and your family recently! What a testimony.
Thanks for posting the pictures as well! Love them! That picture of Kendall with this post is GORGEOUS! (The kind of photo you might want to enlarge and hang on those walls that are currently waiting for decorations...hee hee!)
Love you!
Me
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