daily IMPACT by selahV today

Pathway to Joy

"You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures."~Psalm 16:11

Do I need to know anything else but the path the LORD has for me? On HIS path I have His perpetual presence and in His presence I have abundant joy with the promise of eternal pleasures.

Can you even imagine? Pleasures for an eternity? In our most treasured moments of happiness and joy, these are nothing in comparison to those which the LORD has prepared for those who love Him.

Wow... indeed there is joy in the hope we have in Him. Don't walk in the dark. Walk in the Light of the Lord. Revel in His joy.~ selahV

WHAT A TESTIMONY!

It's so easy to get caught up in a great testimony.  A person comes to Jesus and they've led a life so contrary to Him that you think there would be "no way" they'd change.  Then Jesus fills their heart with conviction and they repent and follow Him in all their ways.  We tend to watch a person like that.  We tend to tell others about them.  And we say, "Wow, what a testimony!"

But what is the real testimony?  A person turned away from destruction and disgrace, or that Jesus is still changing lives?  Do we get as excited about a child who comes to Jesus or a Savior who still says "let them come unto Me"?  A teenager who has yet to rebel against their parents, or a teacher's instruction in Christ's word that keeps them on track?  A person living as a faithful follower--who ministers to the ill, the imprisoned, the stranger--or the Holy Spirit's conviction and leadership?  Do we get as excited watching our pastors who day-in and day-out live their lives by the precepts of God's Word and try to teach us all the same? 

"Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart."  Psalm 119:111

Where is my joy...the rejoicing in my heart?  In Jesus I have joy.  And yet Jesus loved the scriptures.  "Man cannot live by bread alone," He said.  He was the fulfillment of scripture.  The testimonies of God--the written word.  I cannot count the times a passage stilled my questioning mind, calmed my anxious soul and filled the brokenness of my heart.  Oh that we'd love the testimonies of God as much as our Savior.  selahV

PROTECTED FROM GOD'S GLORY

Can you imagine standing on a mountain top and seeing God in all His glory?  Can you comprehend such a moment?  A moment where you actually hear God's voice?  I've had some glorious moments in the Lord.  Truly glorious.  I've been a part of revivals in two little country churches where over a dozen people were saved and the tongues of men and women were loosed in public confession of sin for hours.  Glorious!  Only the Spirit of the Living God could have produced such all-encompassing joy.  I want to see that again.

"Then Moses said, 'I pray You, show me Your glory." Exodus 32:27.

And God did.  Moses couldn't look on God's face or he would have died. 

"Then the Lord said, 'Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.  Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 32:21-23

Can you imagine?  God puts Moses in the cleft of the rock and covers him with His hand.  Physically.  Held in place by God.  Shielded from the perfect glory.  And Moses got to look at God's back.  What a marvelous, amazing thing to experience.  Yet, God's glory is so beyond anything we could possibly understand or experience in our human form, that God cannot let us see all of it.  He must protect us from His glory.  If we were to see it, we'd surely die.

I have never seen God, but I've seen His manifested glory in His creation.  I've felt His love when my son died and knew a warmth I cannot begin to explain.  I know I was in the cleft of His Rock and covered with His hand.  And I will never, ever forget the peace God gave me in that moment.  My soul looks forward to the day I will see Christ face to face.  Can you imagine?  Show us Your glory, Lord, as we can each absorb it, as we can comprehend it.  Show us Your glory.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008] 

WHERE STRENGTH LIES

WHERE STRENGTH LIES

February 12th, 2008 by SelahV
Posted in STRENGTH, Hariette Petersen (SelahV), Devotional | Edit | 1 Comment »

“…And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.” Nehemiah 8:10b

“Joy is the great note all through the Bible.  We have the notion of joy that arises from good spirits or good health, but the miracle of the joy of God has nothing to do with a man’s life or his circumstances or the condition he is in.  Jesus did not come to a man and say ‘Cheer up,’ He plants within a man the miracle of the joy of God’s own nature.” Oswald Chambers

So often life hits us with its intrusions, its uncertainty, its chaos.  So often we balk, falter and wring our hands in weakness of spirit.  We forget our joy.  We forget God is our strength and portion.  Ezra didn’t tell Nehemiah that his strength and restoration would come when he ate and drank heartily and then took a portion to those who had nothing.  No.  Ezra told him not to be grieved or depressed.  “The joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.”

The Lord’s joy is in the brokenness of His people.  He sees their need of Him, their dependence upon Him.  He knows when we get to a place of brokenness that He is our stronghold for the hour.  It is His joy to give us Himself.  It is His nature to give us Himself.  It is His desire to give us Himself.  While we seek after things in this world of temporal contentment, happiness, and comfort, our Father sits back and waits upon us to realize it is not the earth we need, nor the blessings from Him in the earth.  It is He that we need–not joy in the Lord, but joy of the Lord—His joy.

Nehemiah’s joy came after he was broken and poured out.  And God didn’t kick him when he was down, nor did he add salt to his wounds.  He told him to go eat, drink and nourish others.  The Levites quieted the people.  “And all the people went their way to eat, drink, send portions, and make great rejoicing, for they had understood the words that were declared to them.” Neh.8:12

Rejoice for a moment today.

Revel in the reality of God’s joy. 

Sing Him a new song.  selahV

[copyrighted, selahV Today, 2008]