God invites us to delight in Him. Along with this wonderful pursuit is a promise to give us the desires of our hearts! Psalm 37:4 (ESV) "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Godly desires will be within God's will and we can know that we are praying according to His will. DELIGHT -- great pleasure in something. Wrong kindof: Showy display Esther 6:6-11 Physical strength Psalm 147:10 Abominations Isaiah 66:3 Sacrifices Psalm 51:16; Isaiah 1:11 Right kind of: God's will Psalm 40:8 God's commandments Psalm 112:1 God's goodness Nehemiah 9:25 Lord Himself Isaiah 58:14 Psalm 40:8 (ESV) "I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." Psalm 112:1 (ESV) Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments! Nehemiah 9:25 (ESV) And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. Isaiah 58:14 (ESV) Then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 1. What is something you "delight" in? 2. What does it mean to "delight in the Lord?" 3. How can delighting in God help change my perspective or attitude in a trial that I am going through? 4. How can you tell if someone delights in something or someone?
Determine to live by kingdom priorities Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. A. As we seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness, He adds everything we need. B. Often we worry and try to take care of everything without seeking the Lord first. 1. What have I been putting "first" in my life? 2. Have there been other agenda's besides the Lord's kingdom that I have been pursuing? (or delighting in?) 3. What adjustments will I make this week to change my priorities to match God's priorities? In Psalm 73, Asaph needed a change in perspective from "earthly" to "heavenly." Many times we can get off track a bit when our focus needs readjusting to the Lord. He concludes as the NIV study notes state: "that nothing in heaven or on earth is more desirable than God." Please read Psalm 73 as your devotional for this study today.
"Call to Me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." -Jeremiah 33:3 What is prayer? How would you define it? How important has prayer been in your life? Remember back to a time when you were not a believer, how did you handle difficult issues or problems without prayer? How do people without Christ try to handle life on their own? Does this work? Why not? Cynthia Heald, in her book, "Becoming a Woman of Prayer" defines prayer as a form of intimacy in relationship with the Lord. She shares that God is interested in having that close relationship with us and through prayer-we get to know HIM better! What a joy! The Scriptures tell us that there is joy in God's Presence and at His right hand eternal pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I don't know about you, but this is the life that I am looking for! One with joy that is not dependent on circumstances or emotions. One that is filled with God Himself! Fellowship with Christ is one of the benefits and privileges of belonging to Him. We are learning this in the book of 1 John that we are studying in Women of the Word on Thursdays. 1 John 1:3-4 (ESV) "that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
So, let's sit on the heavenly porch and have a talk with Jesus today!
I John 3:11-15 (ESV) For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Hello and Welcome! I'm Reatha Rivera and I am the Bible Teacher at the weekly Women of the Word Bible study at First Baptist Church in Weston, Florida.