Month: October 2023

“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips:” Psalm‬ ‭63‬:‭5‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the psalmist focused his desires upon God, he had the assurance that his soul would be satisfied. And this is what every desire seeks for: satisfaction. When our body is thirsty we have a desire for a cool drink and obtaining that satisfies us. When we’re hungry we long for food and once we eat we are satisfied. So it is with this desire of our soul for God. When we seek Him and begin to experience the joy of His love, our soul is satisfied. But let us also recognize, nothing or no one except God can ever satisfy our souls! God said through the prophet Jeremiah, (2:13) “My people have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living water, and have made for themselves cisterns (wells) which hold no water”. This meant that they could never be satisfied by partaking of the emptiness of material things. But thank God, He is the Fountain at which our souls can drink deeply and be satisfied! Let us rejoice with the songwriter: “All this world, its wealth and honor, Cannot sate the human breast; But when filled with God, our Father, Every want is fully blest. My soul is satisfied, My soul is satisfied; I am complete in Jesus love, And my soul is satisfied.”

“Because Thy lovingkindness Is better than life, My lips shall praise Thee.” Psalm‬ ‭63‬:‭3‬ ‭KJV. As the soul responds to this inner longing for God and begins to earnestly seek Him, they will soon discover what the psalmist speaks of here. Thank God, His merciful love revealed to our souls through Jesus Christ is the greatest thing any soul can ever know! It is better than anything in this world. It is better than all of this physical life. To personally experience the love of God in Christ is to know a greater joy, a greater satisfaction than anything this world can ever give. And no matter what we try to compare God’s love to, we can always say, “God’s love is better than that”. Many have made vast fortunes financially. But God’s love is better. There is the strong love of family, but God’s love is better. Emperors have conquered kingdoms and ruled vast empires. But to know God’s love is better. Men have risen to the heights of human greatness. But God’s love is better than all! Let us realize when we come to know God’s love, we are coming to the very best that any soul can ever know. And by God’s grace, let us always cherish this great love we find in Him.

“To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” Psalm‬ ‭63‬:‭2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. When once a person realizes that their soul is longing for God Himself, and begins to seek Him, all other desires begin to change as well. In our old life, when we tried to satisfy our longing in worldly things we were always focused on what we could do and the glory of the creature. And all throughout history we see the sad reminders of men seeking their own power and glory. Until finally, their glory becomes their shame. But thank God, when our soul begins to seek Him, we find ourselves longing for His power and His glory! We discover, this is what we are created for, the glory of God! This is what we are to live every moment for, the glory of God. This should be the motive behind our every prayer, asking so that God will be glorified. In fact, every word that we speak and every deed we do, should be for the glory of God. And the more we desire God, the more this will be our manner of life. The apostle writes “…whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭31‬ ‭KJV‬‬). And we can be sure, everything that is done for God’s glory, will be blessed! Every prayer that is prayed for His glory, will be answered. By God’s grace, let us do all for His glory.

“O God, Thou art My God; early will I seek Thee: My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” Psalm‬ ‭63‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In these words the psalmist is expressing something that is familiar to every person at some point in life. By God’s grace, every soul reaches a place where there is a great longing in their heart for something more than this world can offer. They long for something more than physical or material things. And thank God, as His children we have discovered with the writer, that God Himself is the One our soul longs for. We learn that we were created for God and can only be satisfied with God. And that is something we should always thank and praise God for! That when our souls thirsted, His Spirit was there to point us to the One Who is the Fountain of Life! That there was someone in our life who told us of Jesus and how He alone is able to quench the longing in our souls. And praise God, we have found it so! He is the Fountain for the thirsty soul! He is that Living Water which quenches the thirst of our soul. But let us also be careful, because the more we allow our desires to be divided among the things of this world, the less will be our desire for God. By God’s grace, let us always cultivate a strong desire for Him. Let us know that He alone is able to satisfy our thirsty souls.

Friday Devo
“But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we journey through this world, there are many things and people who attract our attention. And unfortunately, we tend to dwell upon the negative things far too much. We see the instability of our world. We see the cruelty of sinful men. We see the economic distress so many are in. We see the suffering of bodies and the heartache caused by sin. But how often do we pause in the midst of it all and lift our eyes heavenward and by faith say, “But we see Jesus!”? This reminder of Who our glorious Saviour is, will more than balance our outlook. It will fill us with joy unspeakable and a peace that passes understanding! We have a real need to keep these words often before our minds. We see the devastation of war, but then we can lift our eyes of faith and say, “But we see Jesus”. We see the bleak economic outlook, and then we look up and say, “But we see Jesus”. And whatever we may be fixated on, we can be sure that Jesus is greater and stronger than whatever may come against us. And one day when this physical life fades and our time comes to an end, we will look up and say, “But we see Jesus”.

“Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness…” Psalms‬ ‭107:8‬ ‭KJV‬‬. We all should recognize that the enemy of souls is trying to take our minds off of everything that is good, and drag our thoughts down in despair. And the more we allow our minds to be filled with negative thoughts, the more we give in to bad thoughts, the less we will see of God’s goodness. But what if we as God’s children would truly learn to praise our Lord for His goodness as His Word instructs us to, no matter how we may be feeling? What if we got our eyes off of the bad news, off of our problems, quit complaining about what we don’t have, and actually learned to praise God every day for HIS GOODNESS? Perhaps it would not change everything around us, but it certainly will change our attitude within. Let us be forever settled on this truth: Our God is a good God! He is good in every way. He is good all the time. He is never anything except good. His works are all good. His Word is good. He is a good Father. May we take time to consider how good God is. “O taste and see that the Lord is good”. Psalm 34:8

“let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The opening words of this verse remind us that repentance has always been a part of God’s plan for man’s salvation. Repentance was the first message of Jesus, of John the Baptist and it was the same for the Old Testament prophets. Too often today, people focus only on God’s mercy and His willingness to pardon. But the truth is, we can only receive pardon as we are first willing to repent. And it is not just a single sin that we need to repent of. It is our own way and our thoughts. This truth has become very much neglected in the modern church. God does not give salvation to us so we can go on in our own selfish way directing our lives according to our thoughts. Rather, He calls us to repent, to turn from our ways and our thoughts! This is necessary because it was our ways and our thoughts that got us all in trouble. It is only through repentance that we can begin to walk in God’s ways and direct our lives according to His thoughts. By God’s grace, may we humbly turn from all that is ours, so we can lay hold of all that God has for us.

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians‬ ‭4:32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. We live in a time when much our world is filled with hatred, anger and strife. Basic human decency has been set aside by many. Yet we as God’s children should be set apart from all of those evil attitudes. Jesus said we are to be the city set on a hill, where His light shines! That means: While others are unkind, we are to be kind. When they are cruel, we are to be tenderhearted. And where the world is unforgiving, we are to forgive, even as God forgives us. But also, this time of trouble is revealing what is in the hearts of people. Times of crisis and stress always reveal the person as they are, not what they pretend to be. So while many religious people are being exposed for who they are, let us recognize, that now is the time that the light of Christ in us can shine and God can be glorified in our lives. By God’s grace, may we have the love of Christ in us so we can make this verse a reality in our daily lives.

“casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬ ‭KJV. Very soon in our Christian experience we begin to understand the great battle with thoughts and imaginations. But here the Apostle is reminding us that this is what we must do with every thought that does not align with what God has promised and established in His word. If we did, we would get rid of so many evils such as anxiety, depression and fear. We spend part of our time thinking about the difficult physical reality that surrounds us and yet we often ignore the spiritual reality and the One Who governs both. The other side of this is that we forget that if the Apostle advises doing this, it is because God makes it possible to control our thoughts. We can subdue them and not have them subdue us. Another piece of advice from this Apostle is this: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report; If there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8. By the grace of Christ, let us consider our thoughts.

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest…For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:17-18‬ ‭NKJV. One of the great blessings we have as God’s children is that we have a Saviour, ‬‬Who is also our merciful, faithful and compassionate High Priest. He has already been where we are. He has walked through the dark valley. He’s been on the stormy seas. He’s faced loneliness and rejection. He knows everything that we go through because He has been here! He was made like us. He took on our form and became a human being. He was tempted in all points as we are. He suffered more than anyone ever suffered. And yet He never failed! He never wavered in His relationship with the Father. He lived a perfect and holy life in every way. Because of this, Jesus not only knows what we’re going through but He also knows exactly how to deliver us from everything that will ever come against us. Let us bring our burdens to Him and cry out to Him for the help that only He can give. And let us be sure, as the song says, “He knows all about us, and He understands”.