“Understand,
therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who
keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love
on those who love him and obey his commands.” - Deuteronomy 7:9
Nothing this world has to
offer gives us the fulfillment and satisfaction we receive in serving and
developing a relationship with our living Lord. The Psalmist’s soul yearned and panted,
even fainted, to be in the presence of the Lord. His heart and flesh cried out
for the living God (Psalm
42:1-2, 84:2). When the world lets us
down and we experience loss and deprivation, only God can strengthen our heart. He is our reward
and inheritance (Psalm 73:26). As we find our delight in Him, He gives us the desires of
our heart (Psalm 37:4). God is always ready
to come to us and to fulfill His gracious promises to us (Daniel
9:4).
God’s people throughout the
ages fail to live a life devoted to Him. We seek our solace and provision from
this cursed world of sin and we frequently fall away from pure devotion to God
alone. God continually calls us to Himself, but we often rebel because we
prefer the pleasures of this world. Many fear that God wants to ruin their life
or to shackle them with bondage to rules and regulations. This is far from the
truth. God’s plans are to prosper us not to harm us, to give us hope and a
fulfilled future. All He asks is that we call upon Him and pray. Then He will
hear us and deliver us from all of our fears and troubles. He will see to it
that we lack no good thing (Jeremiah 29:10-12; Psalm 34:4,6,10).
God never fails to listen to
our prayers. If we seek Him with our whole heart, we will always find Him (Jeremiah
29:13). God restores to His fold, every
sheep who calls upon His name (Romans 10:13).
If we make God and His Kingdom our top priority in life, He will give us all
good things to enjoy (Psalm 25:13; Matthew 6:33). He places His angels all around us to deliver us in
times of peril. The Lord is good to those who take refuge in Him and He
delivers us from all of our troubles (Psalm 34:1-10, 17). Due to His faithful heart (1
Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Timothy 2:13), His
praise is always on our lips. We boast in the Lord so that those who are
afflicted will hear our testimony and rejoice in the Lord as well. We glorify
Him and exalt His name forever (Psalm 34:3).
If we love life and desire
to see many good days, then God directs us to keep our lips from lying and our
tongue from evil, to turn away from all deed of darkness and to do only that
which is good, as we seek and pursue His peace. God keeps His eyes upon His
righteous people and He is attentive to our cries. He is close to the
brokenhearted and saves us when we our spirit is crushed. He rewards the
righteous and protects us from those who come against us. Even though we
experience many troubles, the Lord delivers us from them all (Psalm
34:11-22). Jesus is the Rock and His works
are perfect and all of His ways are just; He is a faithful God who does no
wrong and He is holy and impartial (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Prayer:
Father God, be our priority in life. As we diligently seek You all during the day, fill us with hope and give us Your promises. Help us to live a life that glorifies You as Your faithful children. You promised us a future, not without trouble, but filled with Your peace no matter what circumstances we encounter. You give us both the desire and the power to live according to Your will for our life. You give us peace, which goes way beyond anything we can comprehend (Philippians 4:7). You give us a future with true prosperity, and you teach us to live contentedly in every situation You provide for us (Philippians 4:12).
Thought for the Day:
“Create in me a pure heart, O
God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” - Psalm 51:10