Meditate on His Word Day and Night

 “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto they ways. I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget they word.” Ps 119:15-16

awaken my faithAs you are spending time daily with the Lord, be prepared for your repositioning.  Instead of sitting in the seat on planet earth, frustrated about life’s problems, you will be seated with Christ in heavenly places. If you are a child of God it is your rightful place.

This seat is where you are to stay seated regardless of all that is going on around you.  This is a seat of perfect peace and rest, high above the turmoil of this world.  Christ is seated on the right hand of the Father and according to Ephesians 2:6 those who trust Him as Savior are seated with Him.  As you read the promises recorded in His Word, meditate on those promises all day long.

The promises of God are not hidden; they can be clearly seen as you meditate on the Word. So today delight in one principle from His word with great expectations of His full blessings.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”   Psalms 1:1-2

 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make they way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8

The right path is: to read and meditate on the word daily with great anticipation.

Have you been offended? How to Deal With Offenses

“Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”   Psalm 34:3

dealing with offenseHave you noticed the increase in the opportunities to be offended?  Even after 25 years of marriage to my husband, I sometimes get offended by what he says.  As a wife, I may know he doesn’t mean something the way I took it, but I still feel a huge pull to be offended.

I believe in the day we are living, the days prior to the return of the Lord, there will be a greater pull than ever before to be offended.  Jesus taught us in Mathew 18:7 that offenses will surely come.  In Mathew 24, when the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of His return would be, He said in verse 10, “And then shall many be offended…”

So we should not be surprised when we feel the pull to be offended. The question is: how fast do you move past an offense?  Jesus made it possible for us to be able to move past offenses very quickly.

I must constantly remind myself that we are in “the time,” the days before Jesus returns.  Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that there would be a great falling away in these days.  I believe the falling away is due to being offended. If your love waxes cold according to Mathew 24, you will fall away.

I know when I am offended, I must quickly forgive.  Forgiveness is the only answer!  It is the way of escape! The quicker I forgive, the quicker I come back into my right mind.  When I am offended my soul is in control.  When I forgive, my spirit rises up above my soul and takes back over.

I have learned that when I am offended everything is distorted and even my emotions become out of control. When I am offended at a person I will see them in a distorted way, bigger than they really are.  I will become overly focused on them. They become the center of attention and all I talk about for days.  Every conversation even goes back somehow to what offended me.

The more we put our focus on those who offended us, the more magnified they become.  This could cause our heart to wax cold and may lead us to sin against God.  He is the only one we are to magnify.  When we focus on others and what they did to offend us, we make them bigger than God.

 Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:3)

So right now press the minimize button and minimize the person who has offended you.  Bring them down to the right size and forgive them.  Remember, if it were not for the grace of God you might have done the very same thing.

Drink From the Fountain That Will Never Run Dry

“Oh God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land….”  Psalm 63:1

There is a deep well within us that must be filled up daily.  When this well has not been filled, you will find yourself dry and thirsty.

Jesus said, “If any man thirst let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37) Jesus is the fountain where we go to drink; He is a fountain that will never run dry.  When we spend time with Him praying and reading His Word, we are drinking from the “living water.”  The Word brings life and refreshing to our spirit just as a drink of natural water refreshes us when we are dry and thirsty.

Are you stressed, tired, and burned out from the pressures of life?

If so, I would like to encourage you to get up early in the morning and spend some extra time drinking from the Word of God.  Drink until you are filled up with a renewed strength.  As you spend time in the Word, you will also experience a renewed hope that everything is going to be all right.

Dwelling in His Presence

“Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”   Psalms 140:1

Dwelling in the presence of the Lord is the lifestyle of a Christian and prayer is the only way to maintaining this lifestyle.  Prayer is how we connect to God and giving thanks is the key to keeping that connection.

The apostle Paul thought prayer was so important that he said to pray without ceasing. You may ask “How can I carry out the everyday tasks of my job, my kids, my home and still pray without ceasing?”

The prayer uttered out of a thankful heart is a prayer that will continue all day. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving…”(Psalm 104).

When you enter into prayer first thing every morning with a prayer of thanksgiving and maintain an attitude of thankfulness, you will find yourself in His presence all day.  It’s all about how you enter in.  If we enter into His presence with a thankful heart, we will find it easer to continue thanking Him for the rest of the day.  When you stay focused on the blessings of God and thanking Him, your spiritual eyes will only see what He wants you to see. Your spiritual eyes see through thanksgiving.

The secret to staying in the presence of the Lord all the time is determined by the condition of your heart. A heart that is thankful is a heart that can see God in everything. That person can truly pray without ceasing because they are continually giving thanks. Ask God to refocus your eyes so you can see His blessings in everything and give thanks.

Refocus: “…What ever things are pure and whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)  

 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

A Thankful Tribute

“Peace, Peace to him who is far off and to him who is near! Says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise]”   Isaiah 57:19

As I traveled up a winding road I have traveled many times before, I had one thing on my mind, the old apple tree at the top of the hill.  When I arrived at the top, I was disappointed to find a barren and withered tree.  Then I remembered that back in the spring, I had not seen the blooms of a fruit tree. Blossoms on an apple tree are a picture of the fruit to come.  The blossoms in the spring give us a glimpse of the fruit that the tree will produce in the fall.

We can learn so much about our lives when we look at the apple tree.  God say’s we are the apples of His eye. Once we are a tree, He prunes, waters, and watches us as we blossom and bring forth fruit in due season.

On another day, I traveled up the same winding road and I saw two “trees” standing on the hill.  As I got closer to these two “trees”, I saw beautiful blossoms.   These two “trees” were a husband and wife around eighty years old, whose life reflected the fullness of the Lord. From their lips came words of thankful praise, their heart was full of joy as they rejoiced in God’s goodness that day.  The words that came from their lips revealed a thankful heart.  Even in the midst of troubling times, they were truly grateful for God’s blessings in their life.  Their spirit was strong, even though they had weathered many storms.  Their braches were low with fruitful words you could take home. As I left that day, my basket was full with more fresh fruit than ever before. I had been with two people whose lives truly produced the fruit of the Lord.