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Psalms 40:8 NLT I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”
Doing the will of God won’t be pleasant to our flesh, but our spirits (the real us) love doing the will of God.
Our love for doing the will of God is out of gratitude for what He’s done for us. It’s not payback, because we’ll never be able to pay Him back for what He’s done for us. But, it’s gratitude.
So, think about all that He’s done for you, let go of that fear and encourage that lady you’ve never introduced yourself to. Give some money to that homeless guy you see all the time. Be bold in that difficult discussion you need to have with your friend. And trust God when things seem illogical.
All of this and more is the will of God. If we don’t do it, who will? Obey the will of God, which is in His word, and do it with joy.
#gratitude #do #the #will #of #God
Psalms 39:7 NLT And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
We can tell where people put their hope by their response to certain things. A person who puts their hope in the government becomes upset when their political representative faces resistance or doesn’t do what they said they would do. A person who puts their hope in the stock market could become depressed if their stocks plummet. A person who puts their hope in doctors and medicine becomes fearful when they get a negative doctor’s report.
However, for those who put their hope in the Lord, they shall be like a tree planted by the river. Their leaves will not wither (Ps. 1:3). They shall be like a house built upon a rock. When the rains and winds come, they will not fall (Matt. 7:24-27).
If we can push all these systems and man-made constructs to the side and only trust God, we shall not be moved. We won’t be worried about the economics, the test results, or what the government does or doesn’t do.
We can take every issue to God because our hope is in Him.
#hope #in #God #only
Psalms 38:1-3 NLT O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.
When reading the bible, it’s important to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). In Psalms 38, David was going through a lot. He was in pain, his enemies were attempting to kill him, and his family had forsaken him.
From this low place, David made a statement about God being the cause of his tragic circumstances.
If someone just reads this chapter, without rightly dividing the word of truth, they may think if God gets angry enough He will cause sickness and allow our enemies to come against us.
“Everything in the bible is truly stated, but not everything in the bible is a statement of truth.”
Although David’s statement is truly stated in the bible, it’s not a statement of truth. God doesn’t cause sickness and tragedies. He doesn’t even allow them. Tragic circumstances, including sickness comes from the devil, the natural consequences of sin, the troubles of life, or what we allow by not using our God-given authority (John 10:10; Prov. 13:15; John 16:33; Matt. 18:18). The point is, it’s not God.
Be mindful as you’re reading the scriptures. Be sure to read in context, be sure to read in the perspective of a new covenant believer, and be sure to rightly divide the word of truth.
#truth
Psalms 37:7 NLT Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
Trusting and believing God requires patience. In fact, Hebrews 10:36 says we have need of patience. We can’t pray, fast, or cry long enough to speed up our breakthrough. Patience is a necessity.
While we wait, we can learn things about God, ourselves, and even the devil. With God, we can learn about His creativity and faithfulness. We’ll see how creative He can be to bring His faithful promises into our lives.
For us, we’ll learn how to develop our character, we’ll learn how to keep anxiousness at bay, and we’ll learn how to combat doubt from entering our minds.
With Satan, since he lacks creativity, we’ll begin to learn the pattern of his tired old tricks he uses to get us into doubt and unbelief. We’ll eventually understand the thoughts of fear of it not happening, the thoughts of unworthiness and time delay are a joke.
Don’t worry about the wicked getting what you want. It may not last forever. Wait patiently for God to provide His promises to you, and you’ll enjoy them forever.
#trust #God #be #patient #rest #in #Christ
Psalms 36:5 NLT Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
God is faithful. God is the only being who will do exactly what He said. People can say they’re going to be there for us and help us out, but even the kindest people may not be there when we need them the most.
God is always there, He’ll never leave, and He’ll do what He said. Although He’s always there, He needs our participation for most of the things in His word to come to pass. What’s our role? Trust and belief.
God doesn’t need our trust and belief for certain things. For instance, we can go years without trusting and believing He’s with us, but that doesn’t matter. Whether we believe He’s with us or not, God vowed to never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). However, obtaining His protection, peace, strength, etc. that He promises in His word, we need to trust and believe in what He said (Mark 5:36).
God is faithful. Don’t let delay or thoughts of doubt stop you from partaking of His faithfulness.
#trust #God #is #faithful #rest #in #Christ
Psalms 35:10 NLT With every bone in my body I will praise Him: “Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”
All throughout this chapter, David lets us know the difficulties that he’s facing. People are trying to kill him, they mock him, and they laugh at his troubles. Despite all of these things, David totally depends on God, and he is determined to praise the Lord.
When we face difficult situations, going out and getting even with the people who wronged us isn’t the answer. Sitting around and complaining isn’t the answer either. The greatest weapon we have during tough times is dependence and praise.
We must release our cares to God and let Him handle them. Let Him do the work and avenge us. Our flesh will fight this decision of dependence, but if we resist the urge to fight back in our own strength, God will give us victory with dignity.
Knowing our victory is guaranteed, it’s time to praise. We may have to praise Him confused or with tears in our eyes because we don’t know how He’s going to do it, but praise Him anyway. Praise Him for the victory, praise Him for justice, and praise Him for clearing the air.
Totally depend on God during difficult situations and praise Him for the victory.
#trust #praise #God #be #patient #we #have #victory #in #Christ
Psalms 34:6 NLT In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles.
Some believers like to criticize other people for only praying to God in times of desperation. God won’t.
Of course, He wants a relationship with us where we communicate with Him all the time, but His love and grace will answer our prayer even if we only call Him during desperate times. He won’t turn His back on us or make us feel ashamed. He’s happy that we’re reaching out to Him.
We may not have spoken to Him in months, years, or at all, but as soon as we call Him, He’s there.
Don’t let thoughts of guilt, shame, and unworthiness stop you from calling God in times of desperation. When He delivers you from that situation, hopefully, your gratitude will keep you in constant communication with God.
#call #on #God #our #lovingFather #we #have #victory #in #Christ
Psalms 33:6 NLT The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.
9 For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.
We were created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26). Whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt. 18:18). Our tongue is like the pen of a ready writer (Ps. 45:1). Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21).
Since we were created like God and He created this world through speech, we too can create and establish our world through our words. If we say everything will work out fine and things will get better, that’s exactly what will be. If we say life sucks or nothing works out the way we want it to, we’ll experience that.
Like God, what we say will determine how our world will be. We can say things that align with God’s word, or we can say the opposite. The choice is ours.
Act like God and speak the world you want to live in.
#speak #life #like #God
Psalms 32:5 NLT Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
When we miss the mark, the devil wants us to feel guilty. He wants us to feel low and ashamed for what we’ve done. There may even be pastors and believers telling us how bad we should feel for a sin. But that’s not how God wants us to feel about ourselves. God wants us to receive His forgiveness that’s been made available through Jesus Christ and move on. Guilt and shame are weapons of the devil. Grace, mercy, and forgiveness are gifts of God.
Under grace, we don’t ask for forgiveness to be forgiven. God has forgiven us for every sin we’ll ever commit over 2000 years ago through Christ (Rom. 6:10). We ask for forgiveness to remove the guilt consciousness from our minds. That guilty feeling will go away when we’re transparent with God and ask for forgiveness.
So, if there are any feelings of guilt haunting you from sin, ask for and receive His forgiveness for ANYTHING you’ve done wrong.
#forgiven #through #Christ #receive #Jesus
Psalms 31:19 NLT How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
God’s goodness is available for everyone who is willing to trust and honor Him. For us, we trust Him by trusting in His Son and what He accomplished for us on the cross. Once we are fully convinced and trust in His love for us, we can partake of God’s goodness.
God doesn’t want us barely getting by or settling for the necessities. His goodness is lavish. He doesn’t want to bless us with some money, He wants to bless us with a lot of money to pass on to our family (Ps. 112:3; Prov. 13:22). He doesn’t want us to be partially healthy, He wants us completely healed (1 Pet. 2:24). He doesn’t want us to live by luck. He wants us to have a lifetime of favor (Prov. 3:4). The goodness of God shouldn’t be hidden. It’ll be big enough for the world to see.
Rejoice and praise God over His goodness. It will follow us all the days of our lives (Ps. 23:6)
#the #goodness #favor #of #God #blessed
Psalms 30:11 NLT You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
Life has its difficult moments. A loved one could pass away, we could lose a job, or our health could be attacked. These difficult moments could bring sadness. It’s okay to feel sad sometimes, but we can’t stay there.
The only One that can bring us out of sadness, depression, or a funk, if we allow Him, is our Heavenly Father. Once again, that’s if we allow Him because some people like to sit in sadness. Some like the attention that sadness brings them.
But if we rely on God, He’ll bring us out of depression or a funk by showing us things to be grateful for. Although nothing has changed, we can receive by faith His supernatural joy and peace. Everything we need to change our mood can be found in God.
Trust and rely on God to turn sadness into joy.
#gratitude #have #faith #God #makes #things #better
Psalms 29:11 NLT The Lord gives His people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.
Through Christ Jesus, we have strength (Phil. 4:13). This strength gives us the power to do what pleases Him (Phil. 2:13). He gives us strength to forgive, strength to endure, strength to love beyond the hurt, strength to manage our responsibilities, and strength to maintain our faith in Him.
No longer can we say we can’t do this or that. We’ve already been empowered by God to obey His instructions and complete the task.
Rely on His strength inside of you and not your own.
#strengthened #empowered #by #God
Psalms 28:7 NLT The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
God is our help. He wants to be our help, He’s obligated Himself to be our help, and He promises to be our help. We have all the help we need from God for every situation. There’s nothing He can’t help us with, and there’s nothing He wants us to do on our own. He desires to help us.
With all the help God wants to provide in our lives, for some reason, we still have the tendency to do things on our own. Some of us don’t trust God to handle situations the way we think they should be handled. We arrogantly think we’re smarter than God. Others feel like they don’t want to bother God with minor things. Here’s the thing, making the wrong decision that seems minor could have major consequences. Why gamble with your life like that when we have an Almighty God who can give us the best answers for every decision?
Allow God to be the help He wants to be in our lives. He loves to be used by us.
#seek #God #our #Help
Psalms 27:8 NLT My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
God continuously desires intimacy and communication with us. He wants to talk with us about everything. From what we should eat in the morning to where to invest. All of it should involve Him.
A lot of times, people only involve God in things they don’t understand or know. That’s good, but what if we go to God to get His suggestions on things? What if we put our logic to the side and include Him in our decisions?
For us born-again believers, God uses the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Be sure to be sensitive to His voice because He’ll never lead us astray.
#seek #consult #relyon #God #Yahweh #Jesus #Holy #Spirit
Psalms 26:12 NLT Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.
God has done some amazing things for us. The least we can do is praise Him without being ashamed.
Most of us have no problem praising God in the privacy of our home. We’ll sing loud (even if we’re off key), cry, lift up our hands, and bow down. But in public, some of us have shame. Feelings of embarrassment and concern about what others think enter our minds, and we give Him a quiet half-raised hands praise.
Who could be responsible for those thoughts? ….Of course it’s Satan!
We should push past those demonic thoughts and publicly praise God. The same passion we have praising God in privacy is the same passion we should have praising God publicly.
Outside the church, public praise can be part of reaching the lost. When people see us publicly praise God for that sale we completed at work, being cured from that disease, or being promoted, they may inquire about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we can tell them.
In private, praise God. In public, praise God. Praise God continuously.
#praise #God
Psalms 25:3 NLT No one who trusts in You will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
Our trust in God is tied to us never being disgraced. Alternate words for disgraced are defeated, humiliated, disappointed, or put to shame.
In some situations, it may look unfavorable but continue to trust. Ultimately, our trust in the Lord and in what He promised will turn those unfavorable situations around for our benefit.
Trusting God doesn’t mean we’ll get exactly what we want when we want it. Trusting God means we’ll get more than what we want, during His timing that benefits us and others.
Although some situations may look bad, don’t quit on God. Continue to trust Him and He’ll turn everything out for our good.
#trust #God
Psalms 24:1 NLT The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him.
Every little thing on the earth belongs to the Lord. It’s not some things belong to us, and some things belong to Him. Everything on the earth belongs to Him.
Whatever we “own” here on earth technically belongs to God. We’re just stewards of His possessions. That house we live in belongs to Him, the money in the bank belongs to Him, and our time belongs to Him.
So, when He asks us to give something away like money, clothes, or a car, give it away knowing it doesn’t belong to us anyway.
Having this mentality of being a steward of God’s possessions will help us from being selfish, possessive, and materialistic.
Always realize everything we have and everything we’ll acquire belong to Him. Steward it wisely.
#steward #well #God #loves #us
Psalms 23:1 NLT The Lord is my Shepherd; I have all that I need.
By allowing the Lord to be our Shepherd, our leader, and our guide, we position ourselves to have all our needs met.
Some of us go to work daily, hoping our needs will be met. We hope we have enough money for the rent, for food, and for clean clothes. We don’t have to worry or wonder. God guarantees that if we make Him our Shepherd, the necessities of life will be met.
By allowing Him to be our Shepherd, we give Him control over our lives. As we give Him control and communicate with Him, He’ll show us how to earn more money, He’ll show us how to better manage our finances, He’ll show us where our favor will come from. He’ll do all of this so that our needs and more can be met.
Praise God for all our needs being met.
#nolack #in #Christ
Below are some of the things prophetically spoken by David that Jesus experienced for us.
Psalms 22:12-16 NLT My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey. My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
Jesus suffered greatly just for us. His flesh was torn to pieces, His blood was drained from His body, He was dehydrated, and obviously, His hands and feet were pierced.
This was supposed to be us, but Jesus took our punishment. Jesus took the charges meant for mankind. Jesus was made sin and accepted God’s wrath on our behalf. Jesus endured all these things and more just for us.
Even though His story and His sufferings are often told to us (believers), don’t lose your appreciation for what He’s done. And even though we may hear of His sufferings often, there are some who have never heard it before. Value and internalize His experiences and share it with someone else.
#share #Jesus #God #so #greatly #loved #us
Psalms 21:7 NLT For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.
We are royalty (Revelation 5:10). As royalty, we are to trust in the Lord. How do we completely trust in the Lord? By trusting in His unfailing love.
When we trust in the unfailing love of God, that minimizes the marks we miss. We’ll understand that the parameters He set up for us are based on His love.
He didn’t tell us not to be drunk with wine in Ephesians 5:18 because He wanted to ruin our “fun.” His love placed those limits in our lives because He doesn’t want us to kill ourselves, say something that will ruin a relationship, or do something we’ll regret. The same goes for fornication in 1 Corinthians 6:18. He didn’t tell us not to fornicate because He wanted to control us. He knows, and scientists have proven, the physical, emotional, and psychological issues sex before marriage can cause, and He wants to save us from having to deal with these issues.
It’s no different than the parameters we set for our children. We don’t tell them not to touch the pretty flames on the stove because we want to flex our parental muscles. No, we have that rule because we love our children and don’t want to see them hurt. God is our Heavenly Father, and we are His children. Every rule He set up in the New Covenant (in context) benefits us.
When we truly trust in His love, we trust the structure He set up for us. Our trust in His love keeps us from damaging our ourselves, our lives, and the lives of those around us.
#trust #God #He #cares #for #you
Psalms 20:7-8 NLT Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm.
Some boast in their diet and exercise. Some boast in the amount of money they make. Some boast in the houses they live in and the cars they drive. Some boast in the success of their children. There’s nothing wrong with being healthy or wealthy, but that shouldn’t be the foundation of our boasting. We, as believers, should boast in the name of the Lord.
What does boasting in the name of the Lord look like? We take everything that appears successful and subpar and put it under the name of the Lord.
If there are things that are deemed successful, we intentionally put that success under the name of the Lord. We tell ourselves and everyone else that none of this success would happen if it wasn’t for Jesus.
If there are things that are deemed subpar, we put that under the name of the Lord by releasing our faith in what Jesus has made available for us. If our health or finances are lacking, we declare our health and finances improve based on what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
Any and everything should be put under the name of the Lord.
#boast #in #God #alone
Psalms 19:1-3 NLT The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
Every now and then, we should slow down from our busy lives, take a step back, and look at God’s creation. Look at the sunrise and sunsets. Look at the mountains and the oceans. Look at the stars. Look at the detail He put in His creations. When we see the beauty in all of this, we can’t help but realize how awesome He is.
This is the time we can look at His creations and give Him glory. Give Him glory because He created all these things with us in mind. He wanted us to get a small glimpse of His glory.
With everything He created, He still cares about us. If He can still make this earth appear beautiful after all that mankind has done to it, He can beautify all the parts of our lives regardless of what we’ve done to it.
Praise God for being the ultimate creator and the one who makes all things beautiful.
#He #makes #all #things #beautiful #restoration #through #Christ
Psalms 18:47 NLT He is the God who pays back those who harm me; He subdues the nations under me
God is a God of love. He wants everyone saved, and He wants everyone to benefit from His love. At the same time, God is a God of justice. If people refuse to honor Him and they harm His people (us), He vows for vengeance.
Vengeance has nothing to do with hate. Vengeance comes from a love of justice. In multiple areas, God promotes vengeance for His people (Prov. 20:22, Rom. 12:19, Heb. 10:30). He wants us to be comforted in knowing that the wrong that is done to us will be handled by Him. He doesn’t want us to seek our own justice. He wants that to be His responsibility.
If someone has hurt you or has done you wrong, don’t attempt to seek vengeance on your own. Give it to God and trust that He’ll handle the situation. Don’t pray for the worst scenario for their punishment. Pray for their deliverance from evil and repentance towards God. Let Him handle it.
#Let God #be #God
Psalms 17:15 NLT Because I am righteous, I will see you. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.
How bold is David to say, “Because I am righteous, I will see you” (God)? In some Christian circles, he would have been ostracized for calling Himself righteous. But he said it anyway and wasn’t rebuked by God.
In the New Covenant, with even more boldness, we can say we are righteous. We’re not righteous because of what we’ve done or how good we’ve behaved. Romans 5:1 says we’ve been made righteous because of what Jesus has done for us. And because of His righteousness, we will eventually see God, our Creator, face to face.
So, don’t let Satan, people, or church members tell you that you’re not righteous. Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ has been made righteous.
#made #right #through #Jesus #Christ #righteous
Psalms 16:2 NLT I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.”
“Everything that happened to me that was good, God did it.” -Evelyn Turrentine-Agee
These are lyrics to a song, but they are based on scripture.
Any and everything good in our lives comes from God. Loving parents come from God. A wonderful spouse comes from God. Being able to walk without pain comes from God. Our children come from God. And salvation through Jesus Christ comes from God.
Satan will use the cares of life, negativity in the news, and toxic people to minimize the good in our lives. Don’t focus on it. We give strength to whatever we focus on. However, if we focus on the goodness of God, we’ll maintain a mindset of gratitude.
There has and will always be more good in our lives than bad. Think about the good and thank God for them.
#every #good #and #perfect #gift #is #from #God
Psalms 15:3 NLT Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.
Prior to Jesus, we couldn’t enter the presence of God if we gossiped. Praise God for His sacrifice because although we’re all guilty of gossiping, that sin has been paid for, and we can boldly enter the presence of God.
Although our sins have been forgiven, gossiping isn’t good. We must recognize the damage that it causes. It causes us to be critical or judgmental of another person’s decisions. The reputation of a person can be destroyed through gossip. Relationships can be ruined, and that person can be socially rejected.
If we should hear gossip, we should pray for the gossiper and the person they’re gossiping about. If we’re led, we should approach that person and offer help for their situation. And at the very least, we shouldn’t spread the gossip.
Gossiping doesn’t benefit us or the person we’re talking about. It’s a coward’s way of communication.
#speakLIFE
Psalms 14:2 NLT The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; He looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
Wisdom isn’t determined by age. It isn’t determined by how many books we’ve read or degrees we have. A wise person seeks the Lord.
Proverbs 3:6 says to acknowledge Him in all our ways. Proverbs 9:10 says the fear, or our reverence, of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Wise people understand they don’t know it all or have it altogether, so they seek God on what to do in every situation. Wise people realize there’s Someone smarter than them Who has their best interests at heart, so they follow His ways.
Don’t be stubborn and intentionally oppose God. Don’t be weak and let your flesh have its way. Be wise and seek the Lord by spending time in His word, spending time with Him in prayer, and being led by the Holy Spirit in all your ways. Let’s be wise and seek Him.
#seek #God #acknowledge #the #Lord #in #everything
Psalms 13:6 NLT I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.
Before we can sing a song to the Lord, we must first recognize His goodness. Satan will use the difficulties of life to deceive us into thinking that God is good to everyone else, but us. We’ll see this family looking happy or see someone celebrating 15 years of marriage and compare our lives with that and minimize God’s goodness.
We must understand that God is and will always be good to us. It may not always be applauded by the world or our peers, but that doesn’t mean He isn’t good.
Each breath we take is evidence of His goodness. The fact that our needs are being met, we’ll always have His love, and we continually benefit from Christ’s sacrifice are all signs of His goodness.
When we magnify His goodness, we’ll experience joy. From this joy, we’ll have a song of praise in our hearts that we can share with Him.
#the #goodness #of #God
Psalms 12:6 NLT The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.
We may have had people lie to us. It could’ve been our parents, our teachers, or our supervisors. They say one thing but end up doing another. This can leave us with a lot of distrust. Eventually, we’re told to trust God, but because we’ve been lied to so many times, we read God’s word with skepticism.
God is not like man. What God said will come to pass. His promises are pure. It’s not a might or a maybe. It has to come to pass. The only thing that stops His promises from coming to pass is our unbelief. If we have doubt, unbelief, and distrust in our hearts, it limits or stops what God can do.
Let’s change our mentality when it comes to God’s word. Without doubt or hesitation, believe it and trust that at the appointed time it will come to pass.
#trust #God #fully
Psalm 11:7 AMPC For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright.
The righteous do righteous deeds. Not because it makes them righteous. They do righteous deeds because of their righteousness.
By putting our faith in Jesus, Jesus made us as righteous as we would ever be (Rom. 5:1). Once we understand that we’re righteous, out of our appreciation for Him, we do righteous deeds. This includes helping the poor, praying for the sick, introducing people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and meeting the needs of someone else.
Once again, these deeds don’t make us righteous. These deeds are done because we’re righteous.
Make the world a better place and act selflessly by performing righteous deeds.
#made #right #through #Christ
Psalms 10:13 NLT Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.”
At some point, we’ve all had this thought of wondering why it seems the wicked prosper and go unpunished in life. Meanwhile, it seems the godly, who are trying to do right, get mistreated and the bare minimum.
If we focus on this too much, we could find ourselves envying the wicked. We may find ourselves living how the wicked live because of the appearance of prosperity and the lack of consequences. Don’t fall for this trap. Later on in Psalm 37:1-2, we see that the wicked will eventually fade away.
Continue to honor the Lord. Not just to prosper but out of appreciation of the sacrifice of Jesus. Let your light shine so that people can see your good works and glorify the Father (Matt. 5:16). If we don’t lead them to Christ, who will?
#light #shine #bright
Psalms 9:9 NLT The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
For political figures in hostile territories or important witnesses that they want to keep safe, they sometimes put them in a safe house. It’s a place that’s highly secured and unknown to their enemy.
God promised to be our refuge or a safe-house in times of trouble. Life can seem difficult at times. We may have challenges at work, problems at home, health issues, and financial struggles. When the enemy is throwing these difficulties in our face, we can find a safe place where we can turn. We can turn to God.
We can get in His presence and allow His peace to take over. We can get in His word and allow our faith to be built up. We can build ourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit. We can allow Him to speak to us and let us know everything will be alright.
Our difficulties won’t disappear after being in His shelter, but our perspective of those difficulties will change. Because we’ve focused on God, the issues that seemed so big before will seem minor. We’ll have an assurance that everything will work out in our favor.
#God #is #our #shelter #He #will #work #it #out
Psalms 8:4-6 NLT what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—
“I’m only human.” This is spoken by a person who doesn’t know their authority.
God, Himself, made us a little lower than Him. Not, a little lower than angels as some translations say. A little lower than Him.
We have authority over everything. This includes, but is not limited to, authority over sickness, pain, drug habits, mindsets, the weather, lack, and time.
To operate in this authority, we must have faith (Romans 4:16). We must sincerely believe that God gave us this authority, regardless of what it looks like or how we feel. Once we believe, we act on our belief by consistently confessing what we believe (2 Corinthians 4:13).
Believe that God gave us this authority without limits and operate in this authority always.
#use #your #God #given #authority
Psalms 7:17 NKJV I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Our praise is always necessary. It keeps our hearts grateful to God. Looking at certain situations in life can have us feeling like life’s not fair because we don’t have this or that. Our praise helps us maintain our gratitude for what He’s already provided.
In this case, we can praise God according to His righteousness. This means we can praise Him because He is just or makes things right. We don’t have to react or respond to the wrong that was done to us. We don’t have to prove our innocence. We can rely on God who makes things right. Because He made it His responsibility to make things right for us, we can give Him praise.
There are so many reasons to give God praise. Add making things right to that list and give Him the praise.
#give #God #praise #practice #gratitude
Psalms 6:9 NLT The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.
With every prayer, we must believe that God heard us. When we’re convinced that God heard us, we know we have whatever we requested (1 John 5:15).
After praying, we don’t have to beg, worry, or do any additional works to make our prayers come to pass. All we have to do is believe.
In Psalm 6, before the cross, David was confident that he was heard and the Lord would answer his prayer. We, in the new covenant, must approach God with even more confidence that God heard and will answer our prayers. It doesn’t matter how good we’ve been or if our conversations with Him have been infrequent. When we pray to God, we must believe He heard and will answer every prayer.
Praise God for hearing and answering our prayers.
#God #answers #our #prayers
Psalms 5:8 NLT Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.
What most of us are fighting on a daily basis is our will against the will of the Father. We may want to stay in that relationship, but we know God is instructing us to end that relationship. We may want to let loose and get a couple of drinks on Friday, but God is telling us to go home.
The basis of our fight between God’s will and ours is trust. A lot of us don’t trust that God’s way is better than ours. We must trust that the benefits of doing things God’s way outweigh the temporary satisfaction of our flesh.
Just let go and surrender it all. Once we stop fighting our will against His, God’s word guarantees a blessed, prosperous, peaceful life. It doesn’t mean it will be perfect, but it will be far better than the life we create on our own.
#trust #God #follow #Jesus
Psalms 4:4 NLT Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude
Anger has been detrimental to our world since the beginning. Cane was jealous of Abel’s accepted sacrifice, and his anger caused him to kill his brother.
If we’re not mindful, our anger can control us. It can cause some to get a divorce, abuse their spouses, destroy valuable property, or get arrested because of road rage. All of these things start with anger, which can lead to sin destroying some, if not all, of their lives.
It didn’t say we shouldn’t be angry. It says we shouldn’t allow anger to control us. When you’re feeling angry, give that care to God and receive His peace, which He made available to every believer (John 14:27; 1 Peter 5:7).
#manage #your #emotions #anger #peace
Psalms 3:3 NLT But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
God is our protector. It’s His privilege to protect us. He never intended for us to protect ourselves. Protecting ourselves comes from a place of fear and distrust. When we attempt to protect ourselves, we’re essentially saying having enough guns, security cameras, and staying alert will protect us better than He can.
Even emotionally, God wants to protect us. He never intended for us to be guarded, with our walls up, and not letting anyone in. There’s freedom in vulnerability.
All of this is self-preservation. When we go into self-preservation mode, God will allow it. He’ll allow us to stress ourselves out trying to protect our lives and emotions. Is that His will? No, but He’ll allow it.
Enjoy this life being free from worry. Step back and allow God to be your protector.
#trust #God #our #protector
Psalms 2:10 NLT Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth!
For us, in the New Covenant, when we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we become kings and priests (Rev. 1:6).
As kings, we’re instructed to act wisely. How do we act wisely? Proverbs 9:10 says reverential fear is the beginning of wisdom. When we honor, respect, and trust God, we’re operating in wisdom. This wisdom helps us make wise decisions in our finances, in our marriages, in our parenting, and in our careers. We’ll receive supernatural wisdom in areas where we don’t have formal education.
There will always be temptations for us to act unwise, but the fear of the Lord keeps our wisdom sound.
#act #wisely #trust #God
Psalms 1:6 NLT For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
Prior to Jesus, the godly were people who reverenced, respected, and honored God. To the best of their ability, they tried to keep the law, but they relied on annual animal sacrifices from the priest to be cleansed of their sin.
Because of Jesus and our belief in His ultimate sacrifice for sin, we are righteous (Romans 3:22). It’s no longer our obedience to the law that makes us righteous. It’s our belief in Him. Our righteousness ultimately makes us godly and as we can see, God watches over the path of the godly.
We have an assurance that God watches over our path. Through the Holy Spirit, He’ll warn us not to go into business with that person, not to marry that person, not to take that route, or to start eating more of this vegetable.
Don’t think that’s He’s trying to limit or restrict us. Trust that He sees our future and knows what’s best for us.
Praise God our Father watches over us and our path.
#God #watches #over #us #HolySpirit #directs our #paths
Graced To Do God's Will 