Living Life for Christ Alone

“Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” -Psalm 119:23-24   How do we cultivate inner calm when circumstances bully us? Meditating on God’s word, delighting in it, listening to the wisdom of it, recognizing that it was God who spoke it, thus it is His heart we hear when we pay attention to it... this is how we steer our souls into our peaceful Refuge that can’t be shaken by life’s circumstances. God desires to be to His children a secret haven where our souls take shelter in the middle of life’s worst difficulties. While princes speak evil of us, while life turns upside down, while wind and the waves beat against us, we hide in this Haven and delight in the words He speaks. While we experience the worst of this fallen world, our souls can taste the best of what heaven has- God Himself breathing heavenly life into us by means of His word. Can it get any better? We have a strong, secu...

This morning, as I was reading out of the Psalms, I got stuck on Psalm 95. I read it once through and stopped. What in the world had I just read? It was amazing! I read it again. Oh, how I knew it was amazing, but I wanted to let the gravity of what it was saying to sink in. And then I read it again, one phrase at a time... "Come, let us sing to the Lord!"  (v. 1a) ...It was a call to sing to God, and it was no ordinary call. "Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." (v. 1b) I began to wonder, "what should make you so excited that you could shout?" It must be pretty exciting!

This morning in my time with the Lord, my eye caught a couple of verses that always touch me, I had underlined them, but I knew it was time to return to them again and take up meditating on them again... Psalm 91:1-2 (NLT) "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust in Him."  I had to look at it in KJV too: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust."   I knew it was for me this morning. God wanted to tell me something, so I went to writing in my notebook what He began to show me as I meditated on it:

There is only one place to receive fellowship sweet.... One still small voice saying, "Come unto Me." When all other voices are shouting, Jesus whispers a sweet invitation to His throne. When all are clamoring for your attention, Jesus beckons for you to come to Him. When all seem to be shouting for you to do, do, do, Jesus says, "Be still and know that I am God." When all the burdens seem to be crushing you, Jesus reaches out to carry them for you. When all of life seems filled with fear, Jesus says, "Fear not. Peace, be still." ...Don't get caught up in life, get caught up in Jesus. His presence is always ready to receive you. Go to Him. Rest in Him. Believe His word. No burden is too heavy, no trial too hard, no joy too small, that He does not want you to share it with Him. He loves you, and He always says in a still small voice, "Come unto Me."

Be still in God's presence. When life gets too hard to understand.... Look to the One who understands all things. When it seems too complicated to figure out.... Be still in the presence of the One who knows the future and is prepared to carry you through it. When things happen you hadn't counted on... Bask in the presence of Him who planned out your life from the beginning. When your heart seems broken beyond repair... Take it to the One who heals the brokenhearted. When loss seems too great to handle.... Go to the One who always holds you in His arms and let Him hold you close to His heart. When trials come and you feel you have no place to turn.... Turn to the One who is always there for you. He said He would never leave you.  Let Him show you the way. When your world falls apart.... Give your world to the One who is never shaken and let Him be your world. In HIS presence there is peace. In HIS presence there are answers. In HIS presence...