September 15, 2015

Open for 2015 {Week 35}




I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe for righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
Psalm 68:3






Do these verses describe you?  Does your heart overflow with delight, rejoicing, happiness, and joy, because GOD and what He has done in your life?

After reading the Isaiah verse Tuesday morning, I stopped, my soul gasping for breath.  I couldn't think of many times during a common week that my demeanor is overtaken by delight and rejoicing because God has saved me.  All I could think was, Man, I want to live like THAT!

A handful of days later, again in the darkness of the early morning, I was gut-punched by Psalm 68:3.  The psalmist prays that the righteous will be glad and rejoice, happy and joyful.  Boy, I do not know if that can describe me, I thought.  I sure do spend a lot of my time planning out my life, thinking about myself, or complaining!

Right away, feeling so delightfully stunned, I knew I wanted to write to you all about this.  You know what these verses communicate to us?  I'll tell you.


God's people should be full of praise for their God!


And another thing:


We can become people full of praise for their God!


Being OPEN this week meant doing two things.

  • First, asking myself, Do praise and rejoicing in my God-initiated, God-enabled, and God-completed salvation characterize my life?   Most of the time, the answer is no.
  • Second, trusting God can change me by giving delight and rejoicing a go.  Salvation does not often come up in day-to-day conversations, and I do not have to live in some bizarre euphoria all the time.  But I can seize moments the when the Spirit moves to invite those around me to wonder with me at the goodness of God and to stand in awe of His work of salvation of otherwise-helpless souls.

Oh Lord, as the Psalmist prayed, may we - those who are righteous because of what you have done in our lives - be glad and rejoice before you, and be happy an joyful.  Thus you will receive your due and sinners will be drawn to seek you.  Have your way in us, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen.


Time to Take Action:
Is your life marked by praise?  Do you daily give thanks and rejoice that God has saved you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the Light?  Do you ever thank God that He is and praise Him because He is worthy?  Every moment of every day, the Christian has cause for rejoicing!

Now, raise your hand if you need to ask the Lord to forgive you for taking His mercy, love, and presence for granted.   Yup.  I have my hand up, too.  Confess and be forgiven (1 John 1:9), then take some time to make a list of praise and thanksgiving to God.  Give being glad and rejoicing before God a go.  That is worship.  Worship becomes the people of God!


2 comments:

  1. Just a quick note to thank you, Heather, for your vulnerability in your writing. I appreciate your willingness to share where you are in life--warts and all. But you also have that knack to turn your frailties into hope and inspiration for me (and I expect many others). Keep up the good writing!

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    Replies
    1. "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
      and how good is a timely word!" Proverbs 15:23
      Just read that verse this morning and here you are living it out and encouraging me. Thank you so much for taking the time to build me up! And thank you for reading. God be praised!

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