We have been redeemed by the Love of the Father, washed and made new by the Blood of Jesus. In His Presence He reminds us of the bright future that He has in store for us and we are filled with hope. So what’s next? How many of these encounters do we need with the Holy Spirit before we believe what God says?
We can keep second-guessing God or we can start walking in the favor He has bestowed upon us.
Believe that He is faithful to complete the work He started in you. Believe that He will prepare you for the place He is bringing you to. Walk with your head held high because Christ in you is the hope of glory! Know that you are the righteousness of God and confess it over your life daily.
Thank You Father for this brand new life You have given me. Thank You for stirring up all the gifts You have placed in me and thank You for going with me as I step into destiny!
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (Amplified Bible)
20So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.
21For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [[a]endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
A couple of years ago I found myself always feeling tired, stressed and burnt out. The every day balancing act of work, family and school left me feeling depressed at times, like I had no life. I felt that in the midst of all my activity, nothing I was doing was really being done well. If I accomplished anything, I didn’t recognize it or celebrate it because I was too exhausted to simply enjoy life.
I had to be reminded that this was not God’s design for my life. His plan does not include running me into the ground! Sometimes we take on things that He never authorized and wonder why it doesn’t seem to work. Or we engage in activities that He has blessed but in the process forsake our time with Him.
I learned, there is no peace without the Lord’s presence. You can get eight hours of sleep every night and still be worn out if you never enter into the rest of the Lord. In His rest, there is true refreshing. He lifts burdens and gives you solutions for an easier life. He helps you to not worry about the things that are beyond your control.
Your mind does not have to constantly race and calculate the next move because you have visited the place of refreshing. In this place, you are laying back in God’s chair, receiving instructions and encouragement as the angels massage your worries away.
“I’ll refresh tired bodies; I’ll restore tired souls.” Jeremiah 31:25 (MSG)
Hit refresh on the browser of your life today. Update the page with news that everything will be ok, you will survive this challenge and it will be well. Remember how He has helped you before and see that it only gets better. See the new you, rested and peaceful with energy to spare and joy running over.
Psalm 23:3 Amplified Bible
He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him--not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
Due to a chapter of my life that I am overjoyed to say is now closed, I learned that it can be very easy to forget to have fun! I love to laugh, love music, love to sing and love to write but almost lost all those aspects of myself when I traveled to the depths of disgust and despair.
When you forget to cast your cares upon the Lord, you can become consumed with the stress and obstacles that you are sure to encounter. You can even become burdened with the problems of those around you. If you feel like you are stuck in a negative situation, you can begin to sink deeper in misery until it becomes extremely difficult to see your way out of it.
But thank God there is a way out! It is true that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. Solomon in his wisdom observed that certain things are just part of the seasons of life: time to be born, time to die, time to plant, time to harvest, a time to cry, a time to laugh, to mourn, a time to rejoice. He also noted that while God has given us the ability to work, He has also given us the ability to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Enjoy the benefits that come from your employer, take pleasure in the fruits of a happy marriage that you work to maintain, reap the rewards of parenting, relax in the home that you maintain, fill your moments of downtime with the things that make you smile from deep inside.
If things exist in your life that prevent you from enjoying the results of your hard work, if you are too stressed and unhappy to have fun, it is time to make some changes. Begin with putting those situations in God’s hands and engaging in something good that makes you happy.
If it sounds too simple, that’s because it’s God. He’s just good like that.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 (New King James Version)
18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. 19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
What is your prerequisite for happiness? Have you ever been guilty of making a statement such as: ‘If I get this job, if I make this amount of money, if I get married, if my husband acts right, if my children act right, if the dog doesn’t bark…THEN I will be happy.’ The list could go on and on if we allow it to. However when we put these conditions on our happiness, chances are we will never be happy.
First of all, by waiting for external conditions to change, we are putting our hope in things that are beyond our control – employers may not hire, unhappiness may be preventing you from meeting your mate, spouse and kids may not do what you want them to do, and maybe you shouldn’t even have a dog if you don’t like the barking. Happiness must start and grow on the inside, where Christ dwells in us.
Happiness is to remove the power of these external influences on your emotions and place your trust in the Lord. There are things I want that I do not currently have. There are moments where I wish for them. But I do not despair. In the moments where I begin to feel discouraged, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter is there showing me that as long as I have the Lord, my life is full and there is nothing lacking.
Happiness is knowing God and being his child. Happiness is knowing that the source of what you need is not found in the hands of man but in the heart of God. Happiness is having a friend in Jesus, who sticks closer than a brother. Happiness is knowing that even the darkest situations will be turned around for your good as you trust in Him. Happiness is knowing that God has a plan for your life (Jer 29:11)!
Focus on the goodness of God. Let go of the wish list today and simply be happy! When the desires of your heart begin to roll in, they will be like icing on the cake!
Psalm 37:3-5 (Amplified Bible)
3Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.
4Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.
5Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
God has a Plan for Your life. Do you believe that? Do you believe that He can use you to reach others and change lives? Do you believe you can be happy and fulfilled? Sometimes we look at our present circumstances and past influences and find it hard to believe that something beautiful could be produced in such seeming chaos. However, from chaos I believe the Lord receives His greatest Glory.
Job was a man who loved God and yet his faith was tested far beyond what seemed fair. Somehow in the midst of pain, sorrow and destitution, Job was able to testify that no matter what, God could accomplish whatever it was that He intended.
This encourages me as I look at my own life, which has at times been full of chaos, mistakes and rebellion. I pray that in spite of me, God’s will be done and His purpose for my life be accomplished.
Speak to your life today and say:
Job 42:2 (New King James Version)
I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”
