March 14, 2026

Joy of the Lord

February 28, 2014 by

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Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!
Nehemiah 8:10

Joy can be found in the Lord’s Word.  Simply put—if you want it, it can easily be found.  Joy is most certainly NOT a scarce commodity for the Lord.  The sanctuary of the Lord sounds like a safe place to me…it IS safe!  It sounds peaceful…it IS peaceful!

Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live
in the House of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in His Temple.
For He will conceal me there when troubles come;
He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.
At His sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.
Psalms 27:3-6

My favorite part of this passage is that “He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.”  How quickly I forget that my battles are not my own. Never were my battles intended to be my own.  The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has more than enough capability to handle all the battles that could possibly come my way.  Heaven’s Army sounds pretty big to me—it sounds pretty capable of taking care of ALL battles.

For the Lord God is our Sun and our Shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in You.
Psalms 84:11-12

Trusting in the Lord brings joy.  His word says that He will ‘withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.’  His joy is a good thing and I’m thankful that He doesn’t withhold it.

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Dear Lord, how awesome You are!  Thank You for the gift of Your joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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In His Courts

February 27, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalms 84:8-12

To be fully aware of the Presence of God is such a wonderful blessing!  To be in awe of Him, to worship and adore Him, and to be thankful that you are able to trust Him is an incredible way to live life!  He loves us and hears our prayers.  Every day in the Presence of God is another opportunity to love God, to have hope in Him, and to praise Him!

The psalmist describes the great honor and joy it is to be able to love, to serve, and to adore our great God by saying, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”  Amen!

Do we truly grasp what all we have in even a single day because God so desires to bless us who look to Him and trust Him?  Wherever God places us in this life, let us be found being thankful, faithful, and content.  For knowing God and being where He wants us to be is the absolute best place to be if that is what God wants for us.  It’s in the knowing Him and being where He has called us that makes life and existence wonderful and abundant—not the job title or position we have that makes life so worth living…it is God!  Even one day living, loving, and serving God is so much better than living a thousand days in any other different way!  That’s just how good God is.  That’s just how wonderful having a relationship with Him is.  I want to be His child.  I want to be His servant.  I want to be in the center of His will and where He places me.  What a huge honor it would be to be a “doorkeeper” in Your house, O Lord!

As you look to Him, He will rain down blessings on your life where you are serving Him.  Be overjoyed that you have access to a God that loves you, blesses you, and is always with you…I am!

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Dear Lord, thank You for loving us and allowing us the opportunity to know You as Lord and Savior.  Help us to be so very thankful and to be content in the places where we serve You each day.  Please continue to bless us.  And may we never get over Who You are and how You have transformed our lives for our good and for Your great glory!!!  In Jesus’ precious Name I pray, Amen.

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No Good Thing Withheld

February 26, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalms 84:8-12

My son turned eight the other day and, like most kids, he started planning his birthday 364 days prior to the actual day.  This year he seemed worried about the festivities surrounding his big day.  So one day I asked him if we had ever forgotten about his birthday, or if he had ever not had a good celebration.  He thought about it and said ‘no.’

Reading today’s Scripture passage reminded me that we often worry about things in our life.  These things may be larger than a birthday party.  It could be a relationship, financial concerns, and some days it might even be a need for a good parking space. Our Heavenly Father reassures us that He will never hold anything good back.  Like we parent our children—we want them to have the good things in life.  God wants us to have the good in life.  When we walk uprightly, our Father makes sure we have that good: grace, glory, and some days a good parking space.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

Remember it says in this verse, “all things,” not some things, not the things we see as good or not good, but all things.  When my son continued to worry about his birthday it was because it wasn’t his turn to plan his party just yet.  You see, our daughter’s birthday falls less than a month before my son’s; and it is our family rule that the person with the birthday before yours is given the opportunity to be the special birthday kid before the next birthday is planned.  It was a timing issue.  After being reminded of this—and reassured that he would have his time soon—he relaxed and enjoyed his sisters’ day.

No, God will not withhold good from us and, yes, He will turn everything to good.  But He will do it in His time, in the right time.  So as my son enjoyed his sisters’ day, I try to remember another line of these beautiful words from this passage: “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere,” even if that day, or those days, are spent waiting and soaking in His grace and Glory.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises.  In those days of waiting and wanting we can sometimes began to ask questions about when it will be our turn for the good to come.  Your reassuring words remind us that You haven’t forgotten, that You have our good planned for us and that, when the time is right, You will reveal it to us.  Until that happens, please remind us to walk in patience, and to focus on Your glory, and bask in Your grace.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Trusting in the Lord

February 25, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Psalms 84:8-12
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!


~  Better is One Day written by Matt Redman ~
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How many of us have had one of those days that will not end.  You know, where things keep happening that are just mind boggling, that we are at a loss for words? What do you do when that happens to you?  Is your first response to pray, or to complain?

As we walk through our life, God offers us opportunities to walk out our faith or to stray from it.  There are people who watch every move we make.  These are Christians and non-Christians, new believers and old believers.  God knows what our choice will be.  He knows if we are going to search for Him and His leading or whether we choose to walk out our own.  As we mature and are not afraid to choose Him, we build such a faith and trust that God will not let us down.  But we have to trust that God will do the best for us.  It will not line up with the world view.

As you start your week, think on the things of God.  He will honor our willingness to serve Him.  It is not our works that please Him, it is our love and friendship.  Just as God loves His people, He loves us the same.  When He brought out His people from Egypt, He did not take them the short route—He took them the long way.  He knew that His people would not be able to go to war against the other nations from the beginning of the journey.  He knew He would have to help them to develop their trust in Him.

Only…who wants to wander in the desert for forty years only to die because of unbelief?  Once those who had not believed they could go into the Promised Land died, God then promoted Joshua; and Joshua took the people on the journey to begin taking the land that God had promised the Hebrew nation many hundreds of years before.  I want to be like Joshua, I want to profess that my God is more than able to protect and sustain me no matter where I am.  How about you?

Joshua was able to defeat the enemies and lead God’s people for many years.  He loved the Lord and obeyed the God throughout his life.  Joshua never aged, grew weak, or lost his eyesight.  Because he followed God without question, he lived a very long life before he died and went to be with God and Moses.

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Father, thank You for the men and women we find in the Holy Bible that teach us what it looks like to follow, believe, and trust in You with all of their hearts.  We want to come into Your presence on that great day and worship You with all that we have!  You are awesome and mighty to be praised.  Please bless the women who are seeking You and investing in Your word each and every day.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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The Blessings of God

February 24, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalms 84:8-12

The last line…“How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”…pay particular attention to it.  It is a universal truth no matter how hard things can get.  God blesses us every day.  Just pay attention to it because you could miss it in the blink of an eye.

My children are a blessing.  When the opportunity arises, we have camp-outs in the living room.  (Yes, even on school nights.)  Well, we had one last night.  When the kids camp out, I sleep in the living room with them.   I had gotten up early to read some of my policy class work.  Well, I got sleepy. I figured I would take a quick 10 minute nap before the kids got up.  Right as I was drifting off, I felt a little arm brush across my face.  I opened my eyes to see my daughter climbing up into my arms.  What a blessing to get such love in the morning.  I guess God knew that I would sleep past the ten minutes and blessed me with love to keep me awake.  God is so awesome!

God gives us blessings all day.  If we trust in Him and believe in Him, He blesses us with His protection and love.  He becomes our sunshine and we shine with His love to those around us.  Every day is not promised, but at least when I get up in the mornings, I know that I am standing in the court that He created here on Earth.  I am standing on the threshold of His home because I know that is the next home I will have when I am done here on Earth.

A day with God is better than any day without Him.  Just being in a relationship with Him brings a smile to my face.  I place my faith in Him to get through hard days and good days.  If it were not for God, I do not know where I would be right now.  God puts us where we are for different reasons.  We may be able to figure some of them out, and we not be able to come to the conclusion.  Just remember that God knows what is best for us, and He blesses us in that way.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings.  Without them, our days would be longer and miserable.  I pray that we appreciate Your blessings and not take them for granted.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Better Courts

February 23, 2014 by

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For better is a day in Your courts than a thousand [elsewhere];
I prefer standing at the threshold in the house of my God
more than dwelling in the tents of the wicked.
Psalm 84: 10

Psalm 84 is a song of longing for the house of God, to be where the Lord dwells, and where His praise is sung and His people gather for worship. It may have been sung by Hebrew pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for a festival, but whatever the context, it expresses the heartfelt desire for worship that should be in every believer.

The psalmist makes two comparisons in this verse. The first is between spending a day in the courts of the Lord than a thousand days elsewhere, or in other places. The Temple in Jerusalem had a series of courts, an outer court for Gentile converts, a court for women, a court for Israelite men, and a court for priests. There were also various gateways into the courts, used by different people for different purposes. At the center of the Temple was the Holy of Holies, which is where the Ark of the Covenant was and where, once a year, the sacrifice for atonement was made by the High Priest.  The psalmist says that to be in the courts of the Lord–and he doesn’t specify which one, so we can presume any of these courts, is better than spending a thousand days anywhere else.  Just to be within the vicinity of where God’s people are worshipping just for a day is more precious than being anywhere else for a thousand days.

The second comparison is between standing at the threshold of the Temple (some translations speak of being a “gatekeeper”–but I think “standing at the threshold” makes more sense of the comparison), and dwelling in the tents of the wicked. Someone who stands at the threshold of a place is someone who is not planning to stay. They’re visiting, or just looking in, as opposed to someone who dwells, who has made their abode in that place. The psalmist has made a choice (my translation “prefer” is probably not strong enough–the verb is “to choose”): he would rather hang around the entrance to the Temple, able to hear the worship of God’s people, than live with the wicked in their tents, far removed from the praises being offered to the Lord.

We don’t worship in the Temple, but we do gather for worship every Lord’s Day with God’s people.  And we do know the Lord inhabits the praises of His people, so the place they are gathered for worship is, indeed, the Lord’s house.  Do we consider going to church better than being anywhere else?  Would we rather stand in the lobby, hearing the voices of God’s people lifted in praise, and the words of the Scriptures read and expounded, than be among unbelievers? Church is not an optional extra for Christians.  The Lord expects us to gather with our brethren in Christ for public, corporate worship.  May the words of this psalm impress upon us the attitude we should have toward church.

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Lord, we give You glory for the privilege to be among people who worship You. We will dwell in Your courts forever; in Jesus’ name. Amen!

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I Love the Lord — Psalms 116:1-7

February 22, 2014 by

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I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.
The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Psalms 116:1-7 NASB

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I Love the Lord Because….

February 21, 2014 by

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I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalms 116:1-7

  • “I found trouble and sorrow…then I called upon the name of the Lord.” How great of a feeling is this!?  Knowing that we can call on His name. Knowing that He is there…He is righteous, He is merciful.  Knowing He will save us.  I think back and I try to count how many times I call out for God’s help during the day.  From the morning when I pray for patience with my kids, to the workday when I pray for guidance when interacting with people, to the evening when I pray for energy to finish my tasks of the day.  I know I can call on Him.
  • “The pains of death surrounded me,”  When I read this line of the psalm, my mind began running through all of the areas in life that we face a type of death: physical death is the first, of course; but we also face emotional death, loss of relationships, loss of jobs and income, loss of belongings. All of these can feel like a type of death, and pain accompanies all of them.
  • “I was brought low, and He saved me.”  When I call on Him, He saves me. When I feel loss, He saves me.  This may not look how I expected it to, but it is always what I need.  This passage ultimately says two things: we are going to feel pain in life and we are going to feel loss, but despite this we will always be able to call to Him and He will always be there to hear our voice.

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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, ‘thank You’ doesn’t begin to express how appreciative we are of Your love, and of the fact that You hear us at our lowest times.  Not only do You hear us but You step in and help…You intervene and do what is best for us.  Thank You, Father.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

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As Long As I Live

February 20, 2014 by

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I love the Lord, because He has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because He inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
Psalms 116:1-2

From generation to generation, God has sustained His people.  He has carried them through the difficulties they have had to endure.  In these verses, we see where it begins.  ‘I love the LORD;’ perhaps we need to say that more.  If we do love Him, let’s proclaim it!  The psalmist goes on to say why He loves God… “because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because He inclined His ear to me.”  If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you know these two verses to be true.  Our hearts should burst with love for Him because He’s been attentive to our pleas for mercy and has helped us.  And you know full well that once you’ve tasted how wonderful life is with Him, you desire to call on Him all the days of your life!  And in doing so, He will be your strength for you!

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8

I do not deserve what God has given me.  He has lavished love, mercy, and grace on me!  And the more He does, the more I find myself loving Him more!

Because the Lord sent Jesus to die on the Cross in my place and has forgiven me of my sins, I now have a relationship with Him that will last for an eternity. And no matter what I have to endure on this earth, I know Jesus walks beside me.  No one can separate me from His love.  If you know and love Him, the same can be said for you.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

Friends, pray.  Call on Him as long as you live!  Love Him!  Have a deep and personal relationship with the Almighty God!  He loves you and cares for you!

Dear Lord,
I love you, and I thank You for hearing my voice when I cry out to You—the first time I knew I desperately needed You and every time since then.  Every time, You have been there to help me, forgive me, comfort me, understand me, and restore me.  You are my precious and wonderful God! Thank You for hearing my pleas of mercy and for always being there!  I will call on You as long as I live!  In Jesus’ precious Name I pray, Amen.

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I Love the Lord

February 19, 2014 by

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Thinking of personal testimonies, I want us to look at Psalm 116 as a personal testimony.  We do know that this man faced great peril and was delivered by the Lord.  This is a very personal psalm, with the writer making reference to himself 37 times in 19 verses.  Only in verses 5, 15, and 19, is there is not at least one personal pronoun used.

The exciting thing is that we can relate to this man’s testimony.  As we study this passage we find that what was true of this man should be true for us as well. Because the Psalmist used the personal pronoun “I”, let’s you and I use the personal pronoun as well.  In this passage let’s consider:

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice;
He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned His ear to me,
I will call on Him as long as I live.
Psalms 116:1 and 2

Many Psalms begin with praise.  This Psalm alludes to praise, but is actually a statement of the Psalmists devotion, “I LOVE THE LORD!”

If someone were to ask us, “Do you love the Lord?” our natural inclination is to say “YES.”  In this statement of devotion it is something that the Psalmist should, also, have thought about before making the statement.  (I imagine that he did.)  You and I should think about this statement, “I LOVE THE LORD!”  It’s very easy to say ‘I LOVE THE LORD’ and a lot more difficult to actually practice that love!

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39

Next the Psalmist says, I love the Lord BECAUSE… ”He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him…” I think we can sum up our love for the Lord with 1 John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”  The Psalmist’s expression of love is because the Lord heard and answered his prayer.  (Re-read Verses 1-2).

The Psalmist was in grave trouble and the Lord came down and heard (so to speak).  How many times has God done the same for us?  When we’ve been in great need and cried out, He has been there for us!

Notice something else here.  The Psalmist says, “Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.”  That should be our attitude as well—because the Lord has answered our prayers, we should continue to pray.  He has shown Himself to be my God.  I should treat Him as such and continue to call on Him.

The decision we can make today is to love the Lord.  The psalmist gives a specific reason for loving the Lord.  His reason was that God had heard his prayer.  There are many more reasons for deciding to love the Lord.  Some of the reasons we should love the Lord are because He loves us (1 John 4:10, 19), He died for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), He keeps us (John 10:27-30), He helps and protects us (Psalm 121), and He indwells us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

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Lord God, thank You for ever-present help in times of my need.  Thank You for answered prayers whenever I call unto You.  You are a wonderful God.  May Your name be glorified in all the earth!  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

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