Usually, it takes only an occasional reassuring word to lift my day. An encouraging e-mail thanking me for what I've written. I don't get tons of feedback from readers. A good thing? Could be. Keeps me grounded and off my high horse! Anyway, I don't need ego-boosting backslapping.
I know the Lord wants me to keep at it. 'Write for me' was what I heard inaudibly, in the back of my mind, driving across the great state of Texas in early 2014, just weeks after retiring from my last church. Though different from what I had been doing, the Lord had more for me to do. As in what you're reading right now!
But on rare occasions, my confidence flags and withers. I ask myself, 'Does anyone really care?. 'All for nothing?' Maybe I just thought I'd heard from the Lord. Or was it too much TexMex food eaten at a waterfront restaurant along the Riverwalk in San Antonio? That yummy bean-laden grub can back up on me something fierce.
Here's a most uplifting verse from the Bible--'For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation' (Ps. 149:4). Those words were like a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade on a blistering hot and humid Texas day!
Those few words, easily memorized even by me, tell us that our Lord not only likes us but takes pleasure in knowing us, and having a relationship with you and me. Is that even possible? Really? Truly!
Usually, I don't like to get technical in these weekly devotionals, sounding scholastic and heady, certainly less than humble, but I'll break my rule this time. In the original Hebrew language, the phrase 'takes pleasure' is a participle, which is a verbal adjective. In English, participles usually have an '...ing' ending. Unpacking this gobbledygook grammar lesson, we uncover that God's enjoyment of you and me is continuous, and enduring, not just a mere infatuation or a momentary fling, but something that lasts and lasts. Living and lasting. Persevering. Continuing. Persisting. Going on and on.
We're favored by Him. Well-pleasing to our God. Around the clock, day and night, God is taking pleasure in His own.
What about this being humble bit? It doesn't mean being some bully's doormat. Quite the contrary. It involves knocking, asking, and seeking Jesus (check out Luke 11: 9-10). In other words, humility means not thinking that we're so high and mighty that we can handle anything and everything that comes our way all on our own. No. We need His help. His guidance. His forgiveness. His salvation which comes from believing in Jesus. Not what we can do for God, but what He's already done for us in Jesus. That's what humility looks more like.
This short verse should find a home in our hearts and minds this week, to be better prepared with the truth of God's Word countering nasty things that inevitably find us in a weak moment.
Let's memorize Psalm 149: 4--'For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.'
For your encouraging words, Lord Jesus, I thank you. All for your sake. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment