Scripture
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
~Psalm 23:1, NKJV
Quote
The goal of grace is that we should come to a place where we desire only what pleases God.
~Ya’akov
Do you still want or are you content with what the LORD has given you? The amazing grace of God does not rush; it does not push or shove. It works slowly, gently and daily. The growth increments are so tiny that sometimes they go unnoticed but God is transforming us via the power of His incredible word and marvelous grace. Many years ago Psalm 37 captured my attention and lead me through a crisis of sorts. I focused on verse four; Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Another way of stating the principle of this verse is… make the LORD your greatest delight, or find your greatest delight in your relationship with Jesus. The second part of the verse deals with Him granting you your hearts desire. It just so happened that I was very familiar with Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” The heart has the ability to deceive us. So the key to Psalm 37:4 is to make the LORD the delight of your life. Prioritize your vertical relationship. Focus on your relationship with Jesus. It is very easy to let a friend, child or a spouse become the delight of your life. Break ups and divorces are painful; they are heart breaking but I always tell folks who are going through this heart break to use it to their advantage. When humans disappoint us and break our heart, it is a good time to work on our vertical relationship. Most of us are not convinced that JESUS IS ALL WE NEED. Our greatest delight is not in HIM; it is in some idol that we have put before HIM. Sometimes the idol is another human being and it is takes a heart breaking experience to get us started on the right track. It is the LORD’s loving way of showing us that our priorities are not right.
What I can tell you with complete assurance is that when you make JESUS the delight of your life: HE will give you the desires of your heart. But you must understand this: over time, He will slowly, yet surely change your desires. This is what makes His grace so amazing. He by His grace can get us to a place where we can say with David, “Jesus is my Shepherd and He is all I want.” This doesn’t mean you will love your wife and children less. Actually, you will love them more but not in a selfish way. You will love them the way Christ loves you. It is not a selfish need-love that seeks your best interest but an unconditional love that seeks their best interest. Eventually, your greatest desire will be to please and glorify Jesus and it all comes to pass by His amazing grace.
June’s father was the most contented man I’ve ever known. He wanted nothing. When I was young, I thought he was faking: I was convinced that no one could be that content. Now that I am old, I understand. Contentment takes time and grace. We have to learn the hard way that the things of this world do not satisfy. Some of you think I am wrong but if you live long enough, you will change your mind. Never idolize another human being: it is a bad mistake. If you make this mistake, you are in for a heartbreak because sooner or later, you are going to be disappointed. Worship Jesus alone: He can handle it and make you better at the same time.
EXTRA
Glad to report that Joyce Chaney is better. I got to visit with her about an hour yesterday. You can’t go in but Nancy brought her outside and I got to sit on the patio with her an chat. She seems very contented and says the food there {Moulton} is good. Pray for Nancy; she has some difficult decisions to make in the next week to ten days. LORD willing, I will see Vellene today.
Volleyball season is over for us: Josie finished up last night. They made it to the finals of the County Tournament but lost to Hartselle. We beat them during the regular season but ran out of gas last night. We did not beat Priceville all year but put them out of the tournament last night. Go figure! Female sports–you never know what the little women are going to do; it depends on how they feel. One thing is certain, the little women are hard to coach. It all goes back to Granny Eve. They have a mind of their own and they don’t like instructions.
Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.