PSALM 23
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Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd = that’s Relationship!
I shall not want = that's Supply!
The post PSALM 23 appeared first on Thoughts About God.
1 week ago
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thou the darkness hide thee....
There are many days I look at my life and am so joyful, for all that God has given me, his love, my family, health etc... On these days my cup seems to naturally overflow. Then there are those days, I am sure you know of them yourself, the days when the only friend you have left is darkness (Psalm 88). How difficult is it to be thankful, to worship God, on those days. Those however are the days that we need to authentically worship him. We find Paul and Silas in Acts 16, they had been traveling and preaching the word. They were beaten and thrown in jail (see acts 16 for the whole story), and in the midst of this suffering they began to sing, "Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn't believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose."(Acts 16:25) I can't help but believe that not only a physical act of being "loose" occurred. When we worship Jesus our hearts are released, and he is allowed to be the one to fill our cup. There have been many times when I fell on my knees in awe of Jesus, in spite of the feeling of being very alone and my cup being half empty. I promise my friends, Jesus never left my cup empty. "Worship is the only thing you take with you when you go." Brett Barry. I don't know about you, but suddenly I am in the mood to worship the lover of my soul.
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Sometimes when we are at the bottom or when we are in one of those days, we can see what actually matters more clearly.
ReplyDeleteThere is a line in a Switchfoot song that says "The shadow proves the sunshine".
It is hard when we are in a shadow, but it is also easier to see God when we are there. Our perspectives can change and God becomes central to our thinking and to our heart. I think of a person who has cancer or a terminal illness and realize that their focus is on the important things in life, in God and family.
Worship is an amazing thing. When we worship, nothing else matters. That bonding with God is crucial to our own spiritual survival. I pray that we can all worship with our lives and with our actions and words each day.
The world tells us its definition of "happiness" and tells us what we need to do to be happy. God says to focus on him and all other things will come after that. We realize that we need to be content and happy in all situations.
Another way to get out of the darkness is to truly have a thankful heart. Thankful for each day, each breath, each heartbeat.
To realize that our lives our not our own (because they were bought with a price and because they are a gift from God and FOR God), is to realize our true purpose in life.
When we realize this, we don't have to have control. We are free to be thankful and grateful and are free to worship. We don't have to build and build what the world thinks we should build in order to be happy. We can die to ourselves and live in Christ through Christ and for Christ.
The shadow proves the sunshine.