Dear Precious Friends,
On this new day... this gift God has given us... We are reminded in God's word to remember as Christians why we are here... It is so easy to get caught up in the world and the difficulties. So what are we to do when troubles come? David gives us a great example in Psalm 27 where He sings Gods praises with much joy.
—Psalm 27:5,6 (TLB)
Christians are not altogether immune from depression. The fact is: the trend of events and the mounting tide of evil are enough to give one sobering thoughts—Christian or not. David, was not always on top of his depression. Sometimes his glad song was turned to a depressive mourning. “My tears have been my meat day and night, while continually they say unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me?” I find that the cure for depression is praise. In other words: be so busy counting your blessings, that thoughts of gloom and despair will be crowded out. So when or if you start feeling down, you know what to do!! Listen to praise and worship, count your blessings, write them down and He will fill you with joy. In HIs presence is fullness of joy...
I love todays message and reminder that we are carriers of hope... The hope we have in Him... That in itself is the greatest of blessings despite what is happening around us... We know the rest of the story and when we know Jesus personally He is our hope! When we count our blessings, we can't help but see God's goodness and favor on us. We want to bless others even in the midst of trials...
WOW... Our job description: Love God. Love Others. Honor God. Make Disciples... We are His ambassadors of love!!! WOW WOW WOW!! I love that job description. AMBASSADORS OF LOVE!!
When we love Jesus we put Him first in our lives which means in the 18 inches from the head to the heart we are willing to sacrifice our own time, money and desires. It means putting Him first at the start of our day, throughout our day and at the end of the day. When we wake up in the middle of the night.. He is our first thought. When anxiety tries to rob us of joy, we know what to do immediately. Take that thought captive to Christ!!
Our time with Him is the absolute best use of time spent on this earth. Filling ourselves with His word brings us great blessing. We can't give what we don't have... So before we go out today.. let us remember God isn't something we add to our life... HE IS OUR LIFE... Fully embrace His purpose and let's not settle for anything else or anything less. Say no to self and yes to God.
Spend time with Him. Abide in Him and we will overflow with His love and hope to all we come in contact with. They will want what we have... Our Lord and Savior.. the greatest gift of all.
AMEN!!!
