#167 - Because of HIS delight...

What a beautiful day to be alive! We serve a God who is ALIVE, not only is His Word alive & active, like a two-edged sword, but HE IS ALIVE! Jesus is no longer in the grave, he's no longer on the cross, HE HAS RISEN! He is alive and well STILL sitting at the right-hand of our Father! Isn't that good news! That is worth being excited about. I believe you will be encouraged today. If you need encouragement, if you need hope, I believe you are in the right place. Let's get into the Word.

2 Samuel 22: 1a, 2, 20b, 21, 32-33,  - DAVID SPOKE to the Lord...The Lord is my Rock (of escape from Saul) and my Fortress (in the wilderness) and my Deliverer... He delivered me because He delighted in me. ²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my uprightness with Him; He compensated and benefited me according to the cleanness of my hands. For who is God but the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? ³³God is my strong Fortress; He guides the blameless in His way and sets him free. For You girded me with strength for the battle!

Man! What an amazing chapter! 2 Samuel 22 just blessed me this morning! So many verses, which to choose?!?!

For starters, look at how the chapter starts.... even David, who has been anointed to be the future King, it says that DAVID SPOKE to the Lord. As a quick tangent, we look back at the life of King Saul & David. From the day the people began to sing "Saul has Slain thousands, David tens of thousands." It says in 1 Samuel 18 that from that day Saul was angry & jealous towards David. It goes on to say, "THE NEXT DAY" an evil spirit came upon Saul. Wow! Because of Saul's anger & jealousy he held toward David "out-doing" him, from that day forward, an evil spirit was upon him! The POWER of offense can change a persons life! And for Saul, He went to his death holding offense against David, in hot pursuit to have him killed. But DAVID was delivered because the LORD delighted in Him!

Anyways... that was a freebie... let's move on.... David SPOKE to the Lord. He is reminding God of how He helped David escape from Saul, He delivered David! David is recounting the goodness, the blessings, the benefits of God his Father! Then my favorite line.... He delivered me because He delighted in me.  Wow! What delight just to read that! Just think about it, because of the Lord's pleasure and delight in YOU, His child, he delivers you from your TRIALS, your enemy... maybe it's debt, whatever it is.... because of HIS delight, He delivers you! That's exciting. In verse 21 it goes on to use some words that are exciting to me.... rewarded, compensated, benefited. By staying in right-standing, in a "seeking position" with our Father, in a "pleasing/serving" position with our Father, we can receive the benefits that He has in store. And it is a DELIGHT to Him to deliver us, and bring us into benefits!


Ultimately.... as we enter in to our day, whether completing a battle or entering into one, we can take JOY in knowing that we have been GIRDED, PREPARED, CLOTHED with strength for whatever we are about to go up against! Like David, killing the lion, the bear & Goliath, He was prepared!

In the last 2 days, I have heard not one, but two stories that make me want to shout! AND, I believe it was because of the Lord's DELIGHT that He chose to lead the events. One friend of mine told me that just this past week, her parents came to town with a new van. It had the remote to open the doors, and the back. It was nice. She said they walked in and handed them the keys. "We have done for the others, and haven't really ever done much for you. Here. We bought this for you. We want you to have it!" Fully paid for, taxes for the next 6 months, tags, insurance! PRAISE THE LORD! What a blessing of the Lord! God is good! The cool thing is, He is NO respecter of persons! What can happen for one, can happen for the next! He can do that for YOU! OR maybe, YOU will be the GIVER! What a joy to have the goal of being able to bless someone in that capacity who is in need. Maybe that is a new goal, to be the one in the position to GIVE! But if you need to receive it! Receive it for yourself! Receive what YOU need from the Lord!

Another awesome story.... a friend of mine was in need of money to get her vehicle fixed. She was without a vehicle! She had to resort to walking her kids to school, or where ever they needed to go. Well, wouldn't you know it, someone felt led to give her $2500! He just felt like the Lord laid it on his heart to GIVE to her. PRAISE THE LORD! I can only imagine that tears must have welled up in her eyes as she must have said or thought, "THANK YOU LORD! You HAVE heard me!" She was able to get her vehicle fixed!

Another friend was talking about donating plasma to have money to buy groceries. If she donated twice a week, she could get enough money to get groceries, with a little left over. Plasma! Needles! And that is definitely a viable way to get some extra cash when needed, but PRAISE GOD, our God even has MORE THAN ENOUGH for her! He has MORE THAN ENOUGH to provide for her needs, her husband and her small children! GOD has MORE THAN ENOUGH! And BECAUSE of HIS delight, we can walk in HIS favor, HIS blessing, HIS rewards, HIS abundance, HIS benefits!

Pray this morning! Maybe you are the "more than enough" that God wants to use to bless someone. And  maybe you are on the "need" side. KNOW that as you seek the Lord, delight yourself in Him, HE will delight in you! He will lead you, He will guide you, He will show Himself strong in being YOUR Jehovah Jirah, God YOUR Provider! You have been girded up and made ready for battle. And with GOD on your side, is there a chance you will loose? NO!

#141 - How to enjoy TODAY

Good morning! :) Well... I have a PRAISE report for yesterday! :) The boy turned 15 months and had his 15 month "Well Visit" with Dr. Sooros. This weekend on Saturday he had a fever, and on Sunday the fever had subsided but when he was walking he was extremely off balance. Well... Tyler and I just did what we know to do based on the Word. "Lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark 16:18) "By Jesus stripes we ARE healed."(Is.53:4-5, 1 Peter 2:24) "When 2 or more come together in together and AGREE upon anything you ask for, it will be done for you by your Father in heaven." (Matt. 18:19) - So... we laid hands on Tyler Jr. and thanked God for his complete healing and restoration. From the symptoms, it would've appeared that he had an ear infection, but we just thanked God that our son was healed! He was whole, restored and walked in divine health! The report from the Doctor was good! He was perfect! :) He's in the 92nd percentile for height and 45th percentile for weight. So... he's tall and slender. :) Such a cute boy! :) It amazes me because he usually eats more than I do! Where does the boy put it?!? So, that was definitely a praise! Thank you Father for being true & faithful to your Word! 


Let's get started! Lately.... I've not been getting past Proverbs. I've been getting so much good stuff out of Proverbs! Psalms will just have to wait. :) 

Proverbs 15:13, 15, 29 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances]. The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with Him).

Man... do I know these scriptures Oh to well! But praise God for HIS Word that we can receive truth and revelation! :) I looked up the word "desponding" in the dictionary. This was the definition: to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage. There was a period of time where I felt like the word of "desponding" would have described me. On the outside, maybe one could not tell.... I smiled and did my best to have a Positive Mental Attitude. But in my heart, hope was shallow at best. My heart had grown weary and sluggish. It was like my heart had been running this race and I was just worn out. If you picture a person in a desert, shoulders hunched over, arms dangling, head hanging low.... or a (not in shape) runner who has run 20 miles, just exhausted.... I picture my heart looked like that if it was walking. My heart was just sluggish, slooping over, tired. My hope, confidence and courage were down. AND... one reason they were is because I was doing EXACTLY what this verse talked about! I had anxious thought and "forebodings". My thoughts were continually in the future, not in the present. I was anxious over the future. I was constantly thinking about the future which paralyzed me from enjoying my "TODAY." I missed the scenic view of my journey because I was so focused on where the end destination would take me. I was longing to live in the future I saw in my mind. I was so longing to live there, that every day in my present was a disappointment because I hadn't "arrived" at my destination yet. 


PRAISE GOD for GOD and HIS WORD! Praise God for my husband. Praise God for revelations! I somehow realized, probably greatly due to Tyler, that I could not live in the future any more. ALL I could control was my today! All I could do was enjoy my today. Sure... have goals, yes! But once I had my goals, work them backwards to figure out what the daily action steps are and then just consistently DO those daily actions. Not dwelling on or staying at the "end" but focusing on the daily actions I can do today. And while doing that, enjoying the journey. A JOURNEY WITHOUT TOIL! Enjoying the smell of the roses along the way. I realizes that being anxious was AGAINST the Word. If I was being anxious, I was trying to control something that was not MINE to control... ie: the future or other people. ALL I could control was my today... my RIGHT NOW. Not next hour or later tonight, or tomorrow. All I could do was control my right now. Enjoy my right now. Tyler STILL has to catch me and correct my thinking because I occasionally still try to live in the future. Or... get anxious, my mind would get bogged down because I'm thinking about all these things I need to learn or do... but they are things that the outcome hasn't even been established!  No need to be anxious. What's the wonderful verse say, "Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING with prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." Phil 4:6.


The VICTORY in it? Check out Proverbs 15:29!!! :) What VICTORY! What GOOD NEWS! He hears the prayer of the righteous!!! GOD HEARS US!? Are you born-again? Are you saved? God HEARS you!!! Do you have sin in your life? Well, ask forgiveness, get things right. And then pray to God. Submit your request! God HEARS you! I actually recently was holding "offense" against a few people. When I realized it, I knew exactly what I had to do! Just what it talked about in the new testament. It says something like: If you are holding anything against your brother, leave you offering at the alter. Get up, go, get things right with your brother. THEN, come and make your offering. 


So, even me! I had to get offense right. I had to ask forgiveness from God, and my "brother/sister" in Christ. 


GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS! That is GREAT NEWS! Something DEFINITELY to rejoice about! PRAISE GOD! And do you know, you can have a GLAD heart REGARDLESS of your CIRCUMSTANCE! Because you have the FAVOR of GOD on your side! If things look impossible... just smile and laugh and THANK GOD outloud - I HAVE THE FAVOR of GOD on my side! GOD EVEN MAKES MY MISTAKES TO PROSPER! :) I HAVE GOD'S FAVOR! :) 


Have a great day! Live in TODAY! Enjoy TODAY! Tomorrow has it's own worries. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Therefore, enjoy your TODAY!