The Search for Joy
LIVING WATERS
01.24.24
Oh Lord why do my enemies rise up against me?
How foolish to attack a son of the King;
Oh how the mighty strike the jaw of the righteous
they say, “I am like a god and have all I need;”
Oh how they mock and sneer at you Lord,
Yet, they will never see an inheritance;
Oh how the mighty think of themselves so exalted;
Oh how they lord over the meek,
They say, “I have no need to serve my brothers for I am wise;”
Oh how they inflict the meek to make themselves appear strong;
Oh how the spirit of confusion leads them away;
Oh how bound and lost.
But You oh Lord, return the wayward bound;
Oh Lord how your Spirit quickens the mind;
Oh how You hold your precious one’s in Your hands,
The weak in spirit are comforted and the peacemakers inherit the earth;
Oh how the living waters rise in the belly of the righteous;
Oh Lord how You heal the wounds and anoint the head’s of your children;
Oh how true, the Lord is never far from His precious few;
Oh how You preserve Your children in harm's way;
Lord of the Harvest arise and brandish Your sword
For the seed is planted and the harvest is near;
Oh how You cover Your chosen in the shadow of Your presence.
Great is the Lord. And how temporary is our sufferings?
Arise oh Lord and return my joy as in the days of my first love;
Oh Lord let me walk in the joy of Your presence all my days
Amen
- Charlie
WALKING IN THE JOY OF HIS PRESENCE
01.15.24
Last week, I ended my post with a prayer for each of us to walk daily in the joy of his presence. As disciples we walk through many seasons in our lives. In 1 Samuel 16:4 through pretty much all of 2 Samuel we see David as a faithful servant to his leader, King Saul. It seems no matter what happened in David’s life he was always found joyful. Not untroubled, but joyful.
David was attacked, stood before and conquered a giant, fought many wars, was tricked for his bride, and was constantly hated and threatened with death by his leader. Even so, David seemed to stay faithful and continued to have a zeal for God. You might say David had every opportunity to be bitter, but was joyful.
In 1 Samuel 1:1-8 we are also introduced to Hannah. As we read about Hannah we find she was mistreated, not very loved, and mocked for being barren. At one point Hannah was even in prayer and a priest accused her of being drunk. Hannah was not found bitter but joyful, pouring her heart out to God. In case you haven’t read the story of Hannah, God answered, and she had a son. And guess what? He became a priest.
At this point you should be seeing a trend. We all walk through many seasons and trials but all we really want to do, like David and Hannah above, is walk daily in the joy of God’s presence. 1 Peter 1:8 says, “You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him: and rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy.” Don’t miss the part where it speaks of loving Him even though we have not seen Him. Have you ever thought, why faith? If I could only see Him, then I would believe. If you study the disciples' walk you will find they saw Him every day and still had plenty of moments of unbelief. Seeing is not believing, believing is believing, all through the power of the Holy Spirit in an inexpressible joy. Sign me up!
One important trait that these two faithful servants shared was a pouring out of the heart. Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15 was pouring out her heart to the Lord. As a matter of fact, her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-11 sings like a joyous song. As for David, he definitely was all about pouring his heart out in song. In 2 Samuel, Chapter 22 David goes on in song to the Lord for 52 versus. You can find it in 2 Samuel 22:1-51. This is before we ever get to the book that David is perhaps most famous for, the Psalms.
So what’s the point you may ask? Well, in the true spirit of our Focused On Faith ministry, I will share what God has been laying on my heart. In quotes because this is what I “heard” as God spoke to my spirit.
“Sing like I am standing on the stage.”
Psalms 98:4-9 says, “Make a joyful noise to the lord, all the earth: break forth in joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with Lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!” Something happens like a well of living waters when you cry out in song, wholeheartedly, to the Lord. It’s time to remove the rock and draw from the well as we walk in the presence and joy of the Lord. This life seems to make us dull, don’t let anything stand in the way of your joyous song. Coming in and going out, sing unto the Lord.
“Seek Me in My word daily.”
This was put on my heart as an obedience. A little each day to renew my mind and feed my soul. The obedience of reading the word just a little each day has made all the difference for my walk with God. You want to hear something funny? When I started to walk in this obedience I would get sleepy, I would cramp, my eyes would water, really anything that could distract me would seem to happen. If this happens to you, that’s awesome because now you KNOW you heard from God. Don’t stop, it will pass quickly. As a matter of fact, most of the time I find more peace and contentment here than any other place. Don’t tell my pastor, but I enjoy these personal nuggets I find in my reading times more-so than any message I hear. Don’t get me wrong, the messages are great but at some point, you just want to hear directly from God, that way it is yours. You might even find yourself writing a blog and telling others about how excited you are for God's presence in your life. The longer I live and reflect on how many times I have felt His presence and how many times He has rescued me, the more my heart breaks for those who won’t take that first step of faith.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Keep asking, and you will receive what you are asking for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
“Intercede.”
The more I walk in his presence, the more my heart breaks for the lost and the broken. If they only knew. If they could have only been there when my son, who the doctors said would die, was healed. If they could have just felt God's presence in that room as we prayed. If they could have just seen my father-in-law’s salvation on his deathbed. Then they would know that God is real. The fact of the matter is, intercessory prayer aligns our hearts to what breaks His. Take the time to pray and especially to intercede for those who can’t, or for any number of reasons, won’t pray for themselves. Pray for other believers that are hurting and walking through a tough time. If you truly want to know God, intercede for the lost, the broken, the hurting, the believer and the unbeliever alike. It’s hard to walk in His love if you don’t love what He loves. You will be surprised how God works in and through you as you intercede for others.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. Jo-Jo (that’s Jodi’s grandma name) and I truly pray you are blessed, and inspired to share what God is pouring into your hearts. In fact, we would love for you to share your testimony. Click on our contacts tab to fill out the form. We are planning to post some testimonies soon, but we promise not to post yours without permission.
God Bless,
-Charlie
THE JOY OF YOUR CALLING
The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were His instructions to them: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields." Luke 10:1-2 (NLT)
Things to consider:
It wasn't just heroes of the faith that Jesus called to discipleship, in fact, they were quite ordinary like you and me. It was their response to the call that made them heroes. We read a lot about the twelve but, of course, we don't have a lot of details about the seventy-two. It's encouraging to think that like the twelve and like the seventy-two, we all have a role to play.
We read a lot about Jesus looking for solitude but if you look closely I believe this was his prayer time to strengthen Himself with the Father. His heart was for all people. Notice in Luke 10:1 - He had a plan and all who were called took up their cross in obedience to fulfill that plan. I don't know about you, but God having a plan for my life excites me. Don't we all just want to hear welcome home, I am proud of you? Besides, life is pretty boring and monotonous without a purpose.
As Christians, we have all learned the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Don't overlook your call to action, remember we are called to pray for the Lord to send more workers. From our perspective, it is sometimes hard to see where we fit. Sometimes, it seems like the workers are plentiful but the reality is, we all have a place. Not walking in this calling robs us of the joy and excitement of an impactful life in Christ. I have a place, you have a place, the workers are few. Pray that God will show you where you fit then ask Him to equip you and give you the courage to step out in faith and fulfill your call. It doesn't have to be hard nor should it be weird. Just be kind to people and show them love like Jesus.