Isaiah 58:14
“Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” When we delight ourselves in Him, He not only promises to make His desires become our desires, but He has so much more in store. “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD…” He promises there are results of delighting in Him. “…and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee…” Delighting in Him causes us to be strengthened to reach places we never could on our own. Habakkuk 3:19 “The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” When He speaks, He promises. “…for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” Anything and everything He has said is true. If it has not happened yet, it will. His Word is powerful. If you are struggling today, delight in Him. If you are filled with doubt, choose instead to delight in Him. If fear has stolen your joy, decide to delight in Him. The results of delighting in Him cannot be expressed in any other words but His. Psalm 37:4-5 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Bible Reading: Jeremiah 35-36 | Psalm 38-40
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Psalm 37:4
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Some read this verse and assume that if we focus on the Lord, He will give us exactly what we want. While that may encourage us to move our attention toward Him, it gives us the wrong motive and only sets us up to be disappointed. Delighting in the Lord enables our desires to be molded into what He has in store. “God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” – Jim Elliot The process of delighting in Him is found within the pages of Scripture. Isaiah 58:13-14 “If thou…shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” The ifs and thens of the Word of God teach countless principles that need applied to our walk with Him. If we will honor Him… If we will do things His way, and not ours… If we will not seek our own pleasure… If we will not speak our own words… Then…and only then…can we truly delight ourselves in Him. He has promised, that if we will simply delight in Him, His desires will become our desires...we will want what He wants for us. Wanting what we think is best will only give us temporary results. His Way lasts for eternity. Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” Bible Reading: Jeremiah 33-34 | Psalm 37 Psalm 42:1-2
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” When we receive Christ, we have Wisdom. Our faith in Him determines the course of every decision we make. Philippians 3:8-10 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” Each day we must choose Him by faithfully spending time within His Word. Proverbs 4:5 “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.” The longer we go without a drink, the more we need the refreshment. When our body is dehydrated, there is craving for water that is instilled in us by our Creator. He gave us the ability to be thirsty. When our time with Him declines, our soul begins to thirst for Him. Just as our physical body needs nourishment, God placed within us the desire for Him. The longer we go without the Word, the more our soul desires Him. Psalm 63:1 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” Are you thirsty? Refresh your soul today with the Wisdom of the Word of God. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 31-32 | Psalm 34-36 Proverbs 1:29
“For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:” Wisdom begins with a choice. Proverbs 1:5-7 “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” At the root of many of the problems we face today is simply a lack of the fear of the Lord – a holy reverence, respect and awe of Him. When we truly fear the Lord we submit to His authority, deity and sovereignty. “…but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” We are warned that where there is no fear of Him, there is no wisdom or instruction. You cannot begin to understand without first starting as you were instructed. Those that despise wisdom and instruction are referred to as fools. Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” The fear of the Lord is only the beginning. When we fear Him, we begin to experience all that He is, and all that He wants us to have through Him. We must choose to fear Him so that He can begin to work in and through us. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 29-30 | Psalm 31-33 Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” It is so easy to hear a familiar verse and overlook some of the Truth found within. This verse may only contain 10 words, but there is so much life changing Truth that we can apply to our lives. We can parallel this verse with one found in John 15. John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Through Him, we can do all things. Without Him, we can do nothing. The difference is our dependence upon Him, allowing His sufficient grace to strengthen and enable us. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” How can we do all things through Him? Because our strength and sufficiency must come from Him. 2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;” Trying to accomplish anything on our own will only result in temporal results. Rest in Him today. Allow His strength to be made perfect in your weakness. The choice between all things or nothing is a result of our Source of strength. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 27-28 | Psalm 28-30 Mark 5:36
“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.” These five words may have been said to Jarius, the ruler of the synagogue, but they were pinned within the pages of the Holy Scriptures for us to read today. Five words. The power is not so much in the Words themselves, but in the One Who said them. “Be not afraid, only believe.” Five words literally full of the grace of God, spoken by the Word Himself. Regardless of our situation today, they hold the Answer for any problem that we face. “Be not afraid, only believe.” Jesus did not add any other words after the phrase “only believe”. Perhaps because the Word Himself had spoken. There is no room to fear when we truly believe in Him. No room for doubt. No room for indecision. No room for anxiety. No room for confusion. No room for panic. No room for distress. No room for anything, other than believing. “Be not afraid, only believe.” Time after time within the pages of Scripture we see how belief made the difference. Where there was unbelief, there were not many mighty works. Where there was doubt, the people missed out. “Be not afraid, only believe.” Choose today to only believe in Him. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 25-26 | Psalm 25-27 Luke 8:5-8
“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” God gives the Seed of the Word of God that we are to go out and sow. The Seed must be planted in soil. Every person has a heart of soil within them that is in need of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How the soil receives the Word is not up to us, but we still must plant the Seed. Three times within these verses we see the word “some” repeated. Some Seeds will fall by the way side. Some upon a rock. Some among thorns. The Way Side. Luke 8:12 “Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” Sometimes when we sow, the devil will take the Word out of the hearts of those that received the Seed. The Rock. Luke 8:13 “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” Sometimes the Seed springs up quickly, yet because it never took root it withers away when temptation comes. The Thorns. Luke 8:14 “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” Sometimes the thorns of the cares and pleasures of this life get in the way of the Seed, causing it to become unfruitful. But sometimes...there are other Seeds which fall on good ground. Luke 8:15 “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Pray for the soil around you. Pray that some Seeds you plant fall upon good ground. And as you pray, remember… Every person has a heart of soil in need of the Seed. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 23-24 | Psalm 22-24 Mark 4:3
“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:” Imagine the Sea of Galilee on a bright and perfect day, the breeze gently blowing, across the surface of the water. There is a great multitude of people from every city gathered together, standing on the shore. Jesus had been sitting by the sea side. When people heard, they gathered around Him. Seeing the opportunity, He entered into a ship that sat in the sea, and began to teach many things by parables. The first of which being about the sower. Matthew 13:3 “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds…” The sower first had to go out from where he was. What if the sower had kept the seeds to himself, and never planted them? Mark 4:14 “The sower soweth the word.” Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” Each of us are sowers that have the Seed of the Word of God in our possession. Will we stay where we are, refusing to go forth to sow? Jesus spoke this parable so that the people may see the need. Soil is all around us. The outcome of the Seed being planted is not up to us. Our responsibility is only to sow the Seed of the Word of God and allow the Lord to do the rest. Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Bible Reading: Jeremiah 21-22 | Psalm 19-21 Galatians 6:8
“For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Every day, every moment, of our lives we are sowing something. Every decision, every thought, every move, every action is sown to either our flesh or the Spirit of God. We are promised to reap whatever we sow. Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Sowing to our flesh refers to fulfilling our own desires. “For he that soweth to his flesh…” It is personal, but more than that, if it selfish to sow to our flesh. Doing so only leads to corruption, or destruction. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” Selfish sowing results in only temporary satisfaction. James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Sowing to the Spirit is not about us. “…but he that soweth to the Spirit…” It is selfless, because it is not directed to us, it is only directed to Him for His glory. Sowing to the Spirit brings everlasting life. “…but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Who are we sowing for? How much sowing to do we do for Him in comparison for ourselves? How devoted are we to sowing purposefully? Evaluate where you are sowing your time, your effort, your faith today. There will soon be a harvest of whatever we have sown. Bible Reading: Jeremiah 19-20 | Psalm 16-18 2 Corinthians 4:1
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;” Have you ever physically fainted? Maybe you hadn’t eaten all day and your body was desperate for nourishment, or you had just expended all your energy. Fainting refers to being weary to the point of exhaustion which renders us utterly spiritless. Now consider if you have ever fainted spiritually. When we find references to fainting in the Scriptures, it is often connected to yielding to the Holy Spirit of God. Before the “Therefore…” we find these two verses at the end of chapter 3. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” When we are filled with the Spirit, we find liberty are able to give God the glory He deserves. “Therefore seeing we have this ministry…” Giving Him glory is the ultimate purpose of any ministry He gives us. 2 Corinthians 4:15-16 “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” It is a daily decision to yield to Him in order to keep from fainting spiritually. Open up His Word and allow the Truth of the Scriptures to renew you today. Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Bible Reading: Jeremiah 17-18 | Psalm 13-15 |
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