In the Presence of the King
"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You (Psalm 63:1-5)."
If you have lived long enough, you have gone through many trials and tribulations. You may have wondered at times how you would even make it through. Life can be so hard. People can be so cruel. But God! He is the one constant in this life. He is the Rock you can always lean on. He is faithful. He is merciful. He is full of compassion and His mercies never fail. He will pick you up and carry you through all the storms of life. He will never, no never leave you. He loves you with an unfailing love.
As I reflect on my life, I think about all the times my Lord has rescued me. I have been in the valley and I have been on the mountaintop. It is in the valley that God has taught me so much. I am thankful for the mountaintop moments, but even more thankful for the valleys. Why you may ask? It is in the valley that God showed me how much He loves me. He showed me He is the one I can always depend on. He showed me that no matter what I may go through in this life, He is with me every step of the way and will give me His peace and joy regardless of my situation. The valleys have been hard, but I praise my God and my King for taking me through them. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me (Psalm 18:17-19)."
In His presence is fullness of joy. When you begin to focus on the Lord, your problems seem to just fade. I am overwhelmed by His glory and majesty. It is hard to put into words just how beautiful He is. I want everyone to know the love of Christ. And this love-this intimacy-is for all who will call on Him! Jesus did not die so that we would follow a set of rules and regulations. No, He died so that we could have a relationship with the Father through Him. In Christ, we are free. Free from the law of sin and death. Free to be who God created us to be. In Christ, we are righteous. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)." You see my friend, Christ did all the work. He bore all of our sin and shame; past, present and future. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8)." Nothing more needs to be done. It is a finished work. This is God's marvelous gift of grace. You just need to believe (put your life upon) the Lord Jesus Christ. He made a way where there was otherwise no way.
He will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit in you and teach you to follow Him. The same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead will live in you! "Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:14-14)." No one will be able to snatch you from His hand. You are forever sealed. You are forever His!
Fix your eyes on Him. Stand firm in Him and don't let anyone or anything move you. Through every trial, God will strengthen you and grow your faith. He promises to work it all out for your good because you love Him and are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). God's purpose is to make you more like Him. Whatever comes in this life, you can have confidence that God is always for you and is using this very trial to mold you and shape you into the likeness of Jesus. God is good all the time and loving toward all He has made. Trust Him in the darkness. He has a purpose and a good plan for you! "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all you heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity (Jeremiah 29:11-14)."
If you have lived long enough, you have gone through many trials and tribulations. You may have wondered at times how you would even make it through. Life can be so hard. People can be so cruel. But God! He is the one constant in this life. He is the Rock you can always lean on. He is faithful. He is merciful. He is full of compassion and His mercies never fail. He will pick you up and carry you through all the storms of life. He will never, no never leave you. He loves you with an unfailing love.
As I reflect on my life, I think about all the times my Lord has rescued me. I have been in the valley and I have been on the mountaintop. It is in the valley that God has taught me so much. I am thankful for the mountaintop moments, but even more thankful for the valleys. Why you may ask? It is in the valley that God showed me how much He loves me. He showed me He is the one I can always depend on. He showed me that no matter what I may go through in this life, He is with me every step of the way and will give me His peace and joy regardless of my situation. The valleys have been hard, but I praise my God and my King for taking me through them. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me (Psalm 18:17-19)."
In His presence is fullness of joy. When you begin to focus on the Lord, your problems seem to just fade. I am overwhelmed by His glory and majesty. It is hard to put into words just how beautiful He is. I want everyone to know the love of Christ. And this love-this intimacy-is for all who will call on Him! Jesus did not die so that we would follow a set of rules and regulations. No, He died so that we could have a relationship with the Father through Him. In Christ, we are free. Free from the law of sin and death. Free to be who God created us to be. In Christ, we are righteous. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)." You see my friend, Christ did all the work. He bore all of our sin and shame; past, present and future. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8)." Nothing more needs to be done. It is a finished work. This is God's marvelous gift of grace. You just need to believe (put your life upon) the Lord Jesus Christ. He made a way where there was otherwise no way.
He will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit in you and teach you to follow Him. The same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead will live in you! "Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:14-14)." No one will be able to snatch you from His hand. You are forever sealed. You are forever His!
Fix your eyes on Him. Stand firm in Him and don't let anyone or anything move you. Through every trial, God will strengthen you and grow your faith. He promises to work it all out for your good because you love Him and are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). God's purpose is to make you more like Him. Whatever comes in this life, you can have confidence that God is always for you and is using this very trial to mold you and shape you into the likeness of Jesus. God is good all the time and loving toward all He has made. Trust Him in the darkness. He has a purpose and a good plan for you! "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all you heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity (Jeremiah 29:11-14)."
Comments
Post a Comment