". . . for the joy of the LORD is your strength." ~Nehemiah 8:10 In this passage of Scripture Israel had gathered to hear the Word of the Lord. It was a time of intensity, it seems, and in such a solemn assembly people were weeping. They may have been surprised to hear the Lord tell them not to be sad, but to depend upon the joy of the Lord to be their true strength.
The word "strength" in Hebrew is a fortified place, a fort, a rock or a stronghold. Think about it...the joy of the Lord is your personal fortress! When you are sad, run into the stronghold of the joy of the Lord where you will find your strength. The fact is, God is full of joy! Joy is one of the pieces of the fruit of the Spirit. The kingdom of God is described as righteousness, peace and joy. Jesus said He came so that our joy might be full. Psalm 16:11 says there is fullness of joy in his presence! In this world that is always shaking, the joy of the Lord stands as our stronghold that cannot be shaken. So whatever we face, we can run to our Heavenly Father. God’s joy over us is always a safe place. Prayer: Father, I thank You that Your joy over me will strengthen me to face whatever comes my way today. I pray that I will not depend on my fickle human emotions, but that I might lean into the joy of your beloved Son, which is my birthright and is given to me by your indwelling Holy Spirit. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. "Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever." ~Psalm 28:9 David in this Bible verse is crying out to God to save His people, bless His inheritance, feed them, and lift them up forever. David is calling upon God to be their shepherd and to carry them forever. We know David was a man after God’s own heart.
As a boy, David learned a few things about the heart of a shepherd. In this passage, David realizes that God is the ultimate Shepherd who has promised to feed His people and carry them in His arms forever! There is a wonderful picture of God as a loving shepherd in Isaiah 40:11: "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." In Psalm 23, David also lists the many blessings that come from the living God’s care. Whatever your struggles this day, take heart that God has promised to shepherd you, bless you, feed you, and carry you forever! As Psalm 23:1 states, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Prayer: Father, thank You for being my loving Shepherd, for promising to bless me and carry me in your arms forever. Help me remember Your closeness when I go through hard times in life. I pray that today I may know Your tender shepherd’s heart more than ever. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19 Our God and our Father, has promised to supply every need of ours according to the riches of His glorious treasury in heaven, in Jesus Christ. This is really good news in an orphan world system that makes people feel all alone and responsible for clawing and scratching for everything they get.
Our God knows our needs before we do, and He delights in providing for us when we need it. Whether it is a tangible need or a spiritual one, our heavenly Dad is a Father who provides for His children. In this passage in particular, Paul is writing to the Philippians. He is thanking them for the gift they sent to help further the kingdom’s work. Paul exhorts them to share what they have, and God will continue to pour in heaven's resources as needed. We may not have a huge bank account that has been built up on earth, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that we have access to the true eternal riches stored up in heaven through the glorious riches of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. Prayer: Father, thank You for the riches of the ages, which are mine in my union with Christ. I pray that all my fears and insecurities about the future will be consumed in the fire of Your loving assurance that You will meet all my needs according to Your riches in Christ Jesus. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. ~Jeremiah 31:33 In this promise the Lord tells Israel that a day is coming when He will put His law within them and write it on their hearts. They will no longer strive to walk in God’s plan and purpose for them, for His plan and purpose will be in them.
Jesus died and rose from the dead and proclaimed a new covenant. He swapped our lives for His. All that Jesus is has now become ours. Our old life has passed away, our new life is hidden in Christ in God, and the law of our God has been written upon our hearts. Through Jesus, His God is our God, and we are His people. What a glorious promise and fulfillment of the new covenant that God spoke of in the days of Jeremiah. We are no longer apart from God and His ways, for God lives in us and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit. God has written His law on our hearts! We can rest in this wonderful truth! Prayer: Father, I thank You that You have written Your law upon my heart through my eternal union with Your beloved son, Jesus. I pray that I will not feel separated from You in any way today because I am one with Your plans and purposes and the intentions of Your heart made real to me by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [Spirit] which is given unto us. ~Romans 5:5 Niagara Falls is truly a remarkable sight. The amount of water that flows over the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls is incredible. By day and by night the water spills over the edge of this escarpment, crashing down onto the rocks below. It simply doesn't stop.
Truly, a waterfall of this magnitude reminds the child of God of the promise that God pours out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. His love for us is an endless torrent of His goodness toward us. Although this truth is more real than anything else around us, it is easy to struggle to understand the greatness of God's love for us. His love cannot be expressed fully in words. This reality is why we need the help of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that we might be rooted and grounded in love and empowered to comprehend how large and wide and high and deep His love for us in Jesus Christ is. We can never count the gallons of water that flow over Niagara Falls every second, and we can’t measure by any natural means the love that God is pouring into our hearts. Only by the Holy Spirit that He has given us can we hope to understand God’s eternal, everlasting, never-ending love for us. Why not ask God today to grant you the ability to comprehend the greatness of His love for you? Like the raging waters of Niagara Falls, He pours His love into our hearts 24 hours a day through His own Spirit. Prayer: Father, thank You for Your endless love that continues to flow over me day and night whether I know it or not. Increase my awareness today of Your ever-present self so that I will not feel alone and forsaken. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit that lives in me. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. |
AboutAlthough every promise in the Bible is important, not all apply to the child of God. If you have made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, all of the promises are precious and important! If you haven't yet felt God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ, we hope that by reading these promises, you will gain a better idea of how great God is and how great His plans and purposes are for your life. Archives
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