by Jesse Abel
Do
you need comfort? The world around us does not provide comfort. The
signs of world are troubling and full of despairing dead ends where the
enemy IS. If your heart is after God’s heart, then do as David did…
meditate on the Excellencies of the LORD. Psalm 86:1-17
Someone asked recently for the blog site that is now getting an average of 700 hits daily. It is: www.filehorde.com/jesse
. Here is a bit of background information. When I first began these
devotionals we were leading a small group Bible study in our home on
Wednesday evenings. Because of work schedules and children some families
were not able to make the study, so in order to try and meet the needs
of those absent, I would send out emails to the small group. As time
went by I started to include the daily devotionals of Dr. David
Jeremiah.
So
from once a week, I went to once a day after contacting the staff at
Turning Point and received and okay to piggy back off Dr. Jeremiah’s
devotional. As time went on and as I became more confident that the LORD
was okay with what I was doing I went on my own.
Now
here is the interesting part: Somehow I was sending these devotionals
to a man whom I never met although there was a connection in that he is
an employee of a friend who does get the devotionals. So one day I asked
a question to those who were reading. Does anyone know how to get the
referenced Bible verses to pop up on the emails when you place the
cursor over them? The man who I never met responded and the blog
highlighted above which is still in his format began. Over a year went
by, but I finally had an opportunity to meet him. He was and is a
blessing. Thanks Jason.
I
will be spending some days referencing the Joy of the LORD. For me it
is critical to walk about in our world and see the unhappy countenance
on the faces of people all around. We sort of expect this from people
who do not have a personal relationship with the Risen LORD. However;
more and more children of God are being caught up in a countenance that
reveals worry and fear, rather than the joy that our LORD promises to
all of us who are saved. John 15:9-17
Now
don’t get me wrong, we all have down days from time to time but it is
not biblically normal to have a long season of no joy in the LORD. If
you read through the Psalms you will find that David, Korah, Moses and
Abraham used the moments of life; the good, the bad and the ugly too
draw close to the LORD. And they found that when they did, they found
comfort and peace, resulting in joy. Is joy important to those of us who
call on the Name of the LORD? The apostle Peter states that joy in the
LORD excels above all of the conditions a person can face in life, in
that; once you are experiencing it that it is so full of the glory of
God that it is impossible to express it or share it with others. He also
says that this joy is part of our heavenly inheritance.
Can
you stand it? No not really and I suppose that is why we only get a
taste of joy now and then because the glory of God is so joyful too you
and me that to experience it all of the time here in the flesh would be
overwhelming. But even in this, we should strive to be full of joy. Why?
Because joy in the LORD is one of the attributes of a genuine Faith in
Christ, 1 Peter 1:3-12; be someone today whom the world just does not
understand!
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