FIVE DAYS OF PRAYER (SUNDAY MAY 3- THURSDAY MAY 7, 2015)
1 Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.... (Psalm 33:1-7)
Nothing defines the authentic nature of God's people than their unabashed love and worship of Creator God and the Father, Who art in Heaven. The sheer joy which emanates from a soul set free into liberty, from the bondage of sin and despair, should be enough to light up the dark night of any soul or group of souls.
In this world, the saints of God have trials, tribulations and trying times which test men's souls, it is imperative that the ones whom Jesus found as captives and blind guides and pulled the scales off that we may see, began to praise Him for that reason alone. The Lord Jesus said that we should not fear those who will kill, steal and behead like their father the devil, but fear He Who has the ability to cast body and soul into hell. The righteous ones mentioned in the Psalm have been saved from the fires of hell and for that reason alone - we praise Him.
Then we shout, sing, share and saturate everything with pure unimaginable joy at the Jesus the Messiah Who rescued us. Joy is not temporary happiness. Joy is a state of being and as we come into a period where an entire nation is focused on praying together on one day, we do not get bogged down by the burden of evil times, but we rest in the blessed assurance and Shalom that we live 24/7 from just been made right, justified and fully brought into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light!
This alone should fuel, fire up and inhabit our prayers today, tomorrow and the rest of our lives as verse two says "GIVE THANKS". So as we pray about the deep heavy things on our hearts today and from now on, let them not dampen our shalom and joy in the journey with Jesus. But let us use these truths of His amazing work in our lives to marvel and abide in His all powerful, mighty Work and what Scripture describes as His attributes.
ACTION POINTS TODAY (AND ALWAYS):
- Sing, literally sing to the Lord about His Power and Might.
- Dedicate every fiber of your being and all of your life and mine, to praising Him.
- Be intentional about sharing this Joy with as many as possible as the days are short. Why? Because He is a good good God!
- He is a Just and Righteous God, praise Him for that.
- His Mercies never fail, they are new RIGHT now and if it were not for His Grace and mercy, we would be in eternal punishment and damnation. Thank Him for this truth.
- Because He is Loving, Merciful, Compassionate but the Judge of all, He will hand out justice, but He will not violate His oaths, His Word or His Promises. Therefore claim His promises, read them back to Him from His Word, ask Him to cover and deliver you and in His Truthful Authentic Omnipotent Way, He will stand by His Word and His Promises!
- His Word is written in the Heavens, in our hearts and in 66 books of the Bible. This is all we need in this life because we could never stop mining the depths and wonderful waters of its truths. Stand on His Word, love it and let it be like honey to the taste.
- Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man and woman and child, who trusteth in Him.
Amen.
4 He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. (Psalm 20:4-5)
This is a really tricky thing. We know, both from Scripture and personal experience that the heart is a deceitful, deceptive and even evil thing, "who can know it"? We hear people telling us all the time to "follow our hearts". This is a usually recipe ingredient for disaster because if we follow our hearts, into some gray areas, WITHOUT following what you and I know is right, according to the Will, Word and Wishes of God - we will end up in a very bad place. How many more times do we have to learn the lessons of history.
We live in a culture, society and system which is led by emotions over rational reasoning and while some of this is good, if based on Timeless Truths, most of it can lead to some horrible stuff. How many apparently solid marriages are broken up because a husband or wife "fall out of love" and it is usually when one person falls for somebody more tempting and alluring. Then, this person proceeds to justify it as "God wants me to be happy" - all emotion-based, all led by the heart. Recently a number of well-known 'christian' singers-songwriters have declared their same-sex status and are living in sin with their partners, but have become belligerent (without anyone asking) in their justification of their human desires, vis-à-vis the Lord and His Word. Both are wrong, and both types of conduct are outside the Will and Purposes of God.
Verse 4 above exhorts us to line up our hearts AND our minds with the Will, Plan and Purposes of God. There is a reason Jesus said the greatest commandment is to Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. When you truly love somebody, you commit all to them and even more so when this somebody is the One Who holds your life in His Hands, Who created you and Who sustains you ONLY by His Good graces. There is nothing good to endear us to Him except our obedience. But the Good News if we pick up our Cross daily, die to our fleshly and sinful lusts and desires and if we seek Him daily and His righteousness, our spirit and soul will line up SO perfectly with His Will, Word, Plan and Purposes for our lives, that we can never stop our cup from overflowing with blessings from above.
When this happens, we can not stop rejoicing! We then develop a joy, joy, joy, joy down in our real hearts, which are in sync with God's, that is there to stay! This is confirmed in Verse 5 as we rejoice in not just the fact of our salvation and future eternal home with the Lord, but we have a magnetic pull whose powerful attraction to the LIGHT Of CHRIST so permeates every fiber of our being, that we cannot wait a moment to be near it! This is the TRUE JOY of being a Biblical Christian. The difference between rejoicing and happiness is similar to the chasm between God and those who have rejected Him. This perishing world seeks after lust, power, fake peace treaties, pomp circumstance and phony show (to fulfill their human happiness) but those whose full gaze are fixed on JEHOVAH NISSI - The God Who is our Standard, will rise on that Day, and will have both the Joy and Peace that passes ALL understanding, even in today's evil, dark and perilous times.
Father God, we love You, and praise You for Your Mercy, Love, Grace and Long- suffering. We don't deserve a thing You give us, in fact we deserve hell and all the punishment set up for those who reject You. But by Your Mercy and Compassion, You saw our sad estate and sent Your Son the Savior - Jesus - to empty Himself and die for us on the Cross, paying the price for the evil desires of our heart, that we may be reconciled unto Thee. Father today, we commit our heart's desires to You and pray for the wisdom, the obedience, the perseverance and the commitment to be solidified in us that what we want in every aspect and facet of our lives will line up with the Plans and Purposes You have had for us since the foundations of the World. As You told Jeremiah, You knew Him before You formed him in the womb and You know us well too, Father. You know our failures, lusts, weaknesses and even strengths. Do away with the first two, turn our weaknesses into strengths and our strengths into eyes FIXED on Jerusalem that we may see the spiritual Holy City and the Kingdom Work You have called us to and thus, answer all the prayers and petitions we make, as we are no aligned more perfectly with what You, in Your perfect wisdom, have in store for us. We love, adore, praise and magnify Your Holy Name, through Christ the King, amen.
Do we often get these two things confused - Joy and Happiness? We do and while the world around us may merge both concepts and call them the same, the follower of Christ should be aware of the difference. The contrast between the two could not be more stark.
The world says if you follow this formula - go to school for over a decade; get an education; get a driver's licence and go to college AND graduate, when then, you can have the big dream. THEN you would be happy.
The dream life is the three bedroom ranch with an entertainment room in the basement.
The dream life is the job paying $65,000 right off the bat and a new car.
The dream life is the beautiful spouse and 2 1/2 children (what does this 1/2 look like?) and the annual vacation in Myrtle Beach. Well how is that working out now? Politicians and the culture killed that dream and our young people are now stuck with massive college debt paid to fat and rich uber-liberal college professors. They have no prospects for that future. All of that "dream" stuff was supposed to last into perpetuity and make our children happy. Now make no bones, some of it is still possible, but it is the subject of another essay.
For everybody else, the marketing gurus and the culture and the society tell us if we have the latest Bowflex machine; the latest tablet computer; the latest smartphone; the latest fast car; the Cruise we can't afford; the latest ....(fill in the blanks)...we will be happy, happy, happy!
Can all of this make us feel good? Yes, a new iPad or laptop or SUV will make us feel really good! There is nothing wrong with working all year and getting some time away from the grind with a week in a cabin by a lake or down by Gulf Shores, Alabama. Just do not confuse this with Joy! This is material and even emotional temporary 'happiness' which is about as fleeting as a full tank of gas on a 15 hour trip to the coast.
God calls us to something more permanent, real and which is exclusively FOR you, designed with YOU in mind and which is pure, undefiled and CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY by ANYONE - none! No one, no government, no person, no demonic force from the prince and the power of the air, can take this away.
THIS IS CALLED - JOY!
Joy is not only a feeling. Joy is an attribute and a permanent condition of the Heart of the Follower of the Lord, through the Only Way possible - Jesus Christ!
Joy is the blessed assurance that not only that Jesus is yours - as Lord and Savior - but He is your defense; your comfort; your shield; your protector and your Guide.
Joy is the state of consciousness where a river of peace flows through you; while the waves of turbulence in a corrupt and perishing world lash against the sides of the Ship of your Life.
Joy is the absolute knowledge that whatever befalls us when those trying times and tribulation hit, that our citizenship is not on this current earth but in the New Jerusalem, the New Creation, the New Kingdom of 1000 years.
Joy is that peace that passes ALL understanding.
I can do on and on about this and will, on another occasion. Suffice it for now that we can discern the Will of our Amazing Lord and then have true happiness - God's Way. Joy is that kind of "happiness" if you will. Joy is not some temporary sort of dependence which more and more unbelieving masses of millions look for, when they put their faith in politicians and corrupt people for their sustenance and happiness. Joy is peace, and until you have that, there will just no joy in "Mudville". There will be no peace, no justice and no true and God-ordained happiness. Amen.
The following promises of Scripture affirm our status as joyful children of God who can stand in that gap of Peace knowing His Word is true, because HE is Faithful and True! Meditate on them:
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You
defend them: let them also that love Your Name be joyful in You.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life: in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 22:3 But You are holy, 0 You that inhabits the praises of Israel.
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 34:1,2 I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord:the humble shall hear and be glad.
Psalm 35:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in His salvation.
Psalm 40:16 Let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You: let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout 0 daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: He is just, and having salvation.
Matthew 5:11,12 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you..... Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...
Ephesians 5:18,19 Be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give
