Author: admin

Just because we were walking closely with God yesterday does not necessarily mean we are enjoying that same relationship today. God is at work in the world around us. He is on the move. We cannot stay where we are and go with God at the same time.

That is why we must follow hard after God. Where God goes; we go. Our soul longs for Him. Our soul thirsts for God. Our soul knows that it must remain in God’s presence if it is to thrive. So it follows hard after God.

Our reward is that when we follow after God, He upholds us with His mighty right hand. God’s right hand symbolizes His strength. It is in His powerful hands that He holds us. We may be the ones pursuing Him, but He is the One who is holding us.

If you feel under pressure or assaulted by your enemies, the key is to follow hard after God. Now is not the time for a casual pursuit! God will not be found with a lackadaisical search. It must be a fervent search. It must be a pursuit that realizes all will be lost if we do not find our way into God’s strong hand.

How desperately are you seeking God today?

There is a place where we can find infinite joy. It is not necessarily as we preach to thousands in large coliseums. Nor is it found in leading large churches or Christian ministries. It certainly is not automatic when we achieve places of prominence or business success. Rather, the place where we find inexpressible joy is when we abide in the shadow of the divine. When we are dwelling as closely to God as we can, that is when we experience irrepressible joy.

While the joy itself originates from God; the decision to abide in Him is a choice we make ourselves. At any moment we can choose to depart from Him or to follow at a distance. We can decide that we do not have the time or ability to walk closely with God. But the joy-filled Christian life comes from living within the shadow of God.

One of the signs that we are no longer walking as closely with Christ as we ought is that our rejoicing in Him subsides. Instead, we find ourselves complaining or worrying or being critical, rather than rejoicing in God’s goodness. Listen to what you have been saying, recently. Have you been rejoicing in God’s favor? If not, you might need to return to the shadows.

The psalmist had never lost his wonder at his salvation. He had thought much about his God, yet he still could hardly fathom Him. So he regularly pondered the divine character and work throughout the day.

Even after seeking God early in the morning to appease his parched soul, by the evening he was still thinking about God as he lay upon his bed. From dawn to dusk, David meditated upon God.

The night is often associated with mystery and terrors. Evil often dominates the darkness. It can often be when our enemies lurk and we are filled with dread and worry for the coming day. But it was not so for the psalmist. As he lay upon his bed at night, his thoughts naturally turned to God. In the stillness of the night, David considered what he knew to be true about his Creator and Lord. He took comfort that God protected him. He knew his future was held safely in God’s powerful hands.

The night can be a time of fear and worry for those who choose to let their minds dwell upon their troubles. But for those who meditate upon the Lord, it is a time of comfort and peace. What is occupying your thoughts?

Jesus said that what came out of our mouth reflected what was in our heart. That ought to cause us to regularly audit our words.

The psalmist declared that his words would usher forth joyful praise unto his God. His words would not be about himself, but about his God. And, as he spoke of his God, his words would reverberate with joy. For that is what filled his heart.

At times our words are far more about us than they are about God. We say things that build us up and make people think more highly if us. Our words may also be critical of others and lower peoples’ esteem for those we discuss. Or we may utter numerous words about our problems and difficulties and the harshness of our life. For someone to listen to what we speak about, they can soon detect what is most important to us.

What is it that is streaming out of your mouth? Is it praise for God? Is it joyful declarations concerning God’s goodness and faithfulness? Take time to listen to what you are saying. It might alarm you.

Satisfaction is something we take for granted, until we lose it. In small ways it comes and goes. We eat lunch and we are satisfied. But later that day, our hunger returns and we are dissatisfied. So we eat dinner that satisfies us again, until we develop indigestion. And so the surface level of our satisfaction can be as temporary as the morning dew.

But there us a deeper satisfaction, that is far less transitory. It is the contentment that originates from our walk with God. He has the means to address the deepest longings of our soul. God grants us a peace and contentment that cannot be easily shaken or dislodged. Such a satisfaction takes comfort in knowing that its deepest needs have been thoroughly addressed.

Marrow and fatness appear to us in the modern age as something to avoid. Yet in the psalmist’s day, animal fat was a luxury few could afford. What he was declaring was that God grants the most treasured gifts to the deepest recesses of our life. God holds nothing back! He gives us His best.

Could you say at this time in your life, that you are thoroughly satisfied?

This verse catches us by surprise. We are used to talking about God blessing us. We are much less familiar with the thought that our actions have the potential to bless God. Yet that is what the psalmist desired.

David wanted to live his life in such a manner that it brought a blessing to his Creator. What a blessed thought!

The Bible regularly portrays God as Someone with feelings. God is portrayed as being angry, or showing tender mercies. God describes Himself as jealous as well as a protective parent. God demonstrates a wide range of feelings throughout the Bible. It is clear that our actions can impact how God feels.

So we discover an amazing opportunity. We have the potential to do something with our life that “blesses” God! After all He has done to bless, us, how eager we must be to take whatever action we could in order to reciprocate!

Too often our actions have disappointed God or even caused Him disappointment. Yet we can be like David, and commit ourselves to act I such a way that it brings pleasure to our God.

Is God smiling today, because of how you are living?

Few words better describe God’s heart toward us than the term, “lovingkindness.” Kindness describes God’s actions directed at us. He behaves kindly toward us. He blesses us. His interaction with us always brings about our good. But His actions toward us are inspired out of a particular motivation. While some people are motivated to do good things out of pride, or a desire to be recognized or thanked, or needed, God acts kindly toward us because of His love. He ministers to us out of His lovingkindness. The psalmist knew this well.

David declared that experiencing God’s lovingkindness was better than life itself. There is no greater human experience than to be the recipient of God’s love! That will be the essence of heaven.

Sadly, many professing Christians have received God’s salvation, but they have not been helped to experience a love relationship with their God. To do so is to learn to bask in God’s lovingkindness. When you do, you will discover, as did the psalmist, that it is the most incredible experience of your life. To know God that way is to indulge in the supreme human experience.

What has been the greatest experience of your life? Has it been to know God this way?

Although God takes the initiative I our walk with Him, He does call upon us to seek for Him. There is something about our seeking, and pursuing, that God is pleased to honor.

But what might catch us by surprise is that we need to seek Him, even when we are in the sanctuary. It would seem a given that that was one place His presence would be obvious. Yet it is possible to be in the midst of God’s holy sanctuary, surrounded by saints, listening to God’s word, and yet miss God. We can do this in a plethora of ways.

At times we enter God’s house with a heart that is distracted or filled with sin. As a result, we do not see God. At other times we fail to prepare ourselves before we come to God’s house, so we miss what God is doing. We may also be distracted by the people around us, or the sermon being preached, or the music being sung so that we miss the God who is present. There are any number of ways in which we can miss seeing God, even though we have entered into His holy place.

That is why we need to always have a seeking heart. Whether it is in our quiet time or at church on Sunday, do we have a heart that is seeking after God? When we have a heart that is continually pursuing God, there is nowhere we can find ourselves where we cannot see God.

Our surroundings are far more dry and parched than we realize. We can be so busy bustling about our day, going to work, running errands, meeting with people, and traveling to and fro, that we fail to notice that our environment is parching our soul.

We live in a spiritually dry environment. Conversations, sin, greed, pride, and a blatant disregard for God and His standards, has an adverse effect upon our walk with God. We may not even realize that our secular conversations and the continual bombardment of hedonistic advertisements are withering our soul.

The business world in which many of us work is often characterized by greed and dishonesty. Many people are motivated to get all they can in their frenetic pursuit of material gain. But these attitudes rub off on us. Our soul becomes hardened in order to survive. Our heart becomes dry, due to lack of nourishment.

So it is crucial that we seek God, in a dry and thirsty land. We may not find spiritual water from our workplace, but in Christ we find a refreshing spring, that will always satisfy. Have you become spiritually parched? Return quickly to the well.

When we rise in the morning, we are quickly reminded of our fundamental needs. We face hunger. We experience thirst. Our body noisily reminds us of our deficiencies.

But our foremost need is spiritual. We desperately require God in our life. Without Him, we cannot function. We certainly cannot thrive.

In the morning, we must quickly remedy our need for fellowship with God. We must seek Him early in the day. Some people argue that they are not “morning people.” They prefer to meet with God later at night, when they have more time and energy. That may all be well. But there is something desperate within our soul that requires a meeting with God as soon as possible. Too much of our day can race by us if we do not make meeting with God in the morning a priority.

We may get through the day, but we will do so without the soul-satisfaction that comes from having met with our God. Your soul may be far thirstier than you realize. Make haste to be filled up with the presence of God.