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We are to "Delight ourselves, in the Lord".
So, what does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord?
A way to understand "how", is like this..
Have you ever swam in a pool, or a lake, or a river, or an Ocean?
Did you go underwater?
If you did, then you were totally immersed.
Total Immersion in Jesus, is how you "delight yourself" in the Lord.
How do you totally immerse yourself in Jesus? You do this by coming to a place in your heart, mind, and soul, where Jesus is your Favorite thing.
The truth is, you are totally immersed into whatever is your favorite thing... And until your favorite thing becomes Jesus, then you are not immersed in him, and He is not your "delight".
Whatever is your favorite thing, is the center of your heart. Is Jesus the center of your heart?
Is Jesus your obsession? Are you obsessed with God? Do you pay constant attention to your thought-life all the time and try to keep it clean before God? Understand, that your real life will never be any more pure then your thought-life.
Are you in awe of them, are you filled with wonder when you consider their Greatness? Do you have a sense of "WOW", when you see Nature, the Cosmos, and realize that God created it thru Christ?
"Delighting yourself in the Lord", means that you are seeking God and Christ with your WHOLE Heart.
This is an act of will, of effort, and of single minded purpose, of FOCUS.
What i have discovered over years and years, is that staying in the place of "delighting myself in the Lord", is the "my" part.. as its often difficult to maintain the clear minded and absolute constant daily devotion to the Master...... because this world and our flesh are always trying to lead us away from our First Love and into being less then utterly devoted.
Part time devotion is no devotion at all. Full time devotion is to "delight yourself in the Lord".
All Christians become serious about the Bible and serious about the Lord when their life is in a Crisis.
Just like the phrase "there are no atheists in a foxhole", its also true that there are no backsliders in an ER, and no backsliders found 30 seconds after they are told by their Doc that they have "Cancer".
But this type of returning to the Master, is not the same as "delighting yourself in the Lord".... obviously.
So, what is the "fruit" discovered by "Delighting yourself in the Lord" ?
1.) Peace that passes all understanding will become real to you.
2.) You will notice that you trust the Lord with your life.
3.) You will become much more "sin sensitive", which means, you will notice with more keen spirituality this dark world that is around you, and how it is always invested in getting your mind off of God and Christ.
4.) You will be more forgiving, more compassionate, more like Jesus.
5.) You will make certain that you make time for the Lord every day....time for bible reading.....time for prayer.....time for praise.
6.) You will notice that you stop trying to always figure it all out and you will start leaning on God and Christ more and more because you have come to a place in faith that is all about trusting them to help, in all the ways you need, all the time.
We are to "Delight ourselves, in the Lord".
So, what does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord?
A way to understand "how", is like this..
Have you ever swam in a pool, or a lake, or a river, or an Ocean?
Did you go underwater?
If you did, then you were totally immersed.
Total Immersion in Jesus, is how you "delight yourself" in the Lord.
How do you totally immerse yourself in Jesus? You do this by coming to a place in your heart, mind, and soul, where Jesus is your Favorite thing.
The truth is, you are totally immersed into whatever is your favorite thing... And until your favorite thing becomes Jesus, then you are not immersed in him, and He is not your "delight".
Whatever is your favorite thing, is the center of your heart. Is Jesus the center of your heart?
Is Jesus your obsession? Are you obsessed with God? Do you pay constant attention to your thought-life all the time and try to keep it clean before God? Understand, that your real life will never be any more pure then your thought-life.
Are you in awe of them, are you filled with wonder when you consider their Greatness? Do you have a sense of "WOW", when you see Nature, the Cosmos, and realize that God created it thru Christ?
"Delighting yourself in the Lord", means that you are seeking God and Christ with your WHOLE Heart.
This is an act of will, of effort, and of single minded purpose, of FOCUS.
What i have discovered over years and years, is that staying in the place of "delighting myself in the Lord", is the "my" part.. as its often difficult to maintain the clear minded and absolute constant daily devotion to the Master...... because this world and our flesh are always trying to lead us away from our First Love and into being less then utterly devoted.
Part time devotion is no devotion at all. Full time devotion is to "delight yourself in the Lord".
All Christians become serious about the Bible and serious about the Lord when their life is in a Crisis.
Just like the phrase "there are no atheists in a foxhole", its also true that there are no backsliders in an ER, and no backsliders found 30 seconds after they are told by their Doc that they have "Cancer".
But this type of returning to the Master, is not the same as "delighting yourself in the Lord".... obviously.
So, what is the "fruit" discovered by "Delighting yourself in the Lord" ?
1.) Peace that passes all understanding will become real to you.
2.) You will notice that you trust the Lord with your life.
3.) You will become much more "sin sensitive", which means, you will notice with more keen spirituality this dark world that is around you, and how it is always invested in getting your mind off of God and Christ.
4.) You will be more forgiving, more compassionate, more like Jesus.
5.) You will make certain that you make time for the Lord every day....time for bible reading.....time for prayer.....time for praise.
6.) You will notice that you stop trying to always figure it all out and you will start leaning on God and Christ more and more because you have come to a place in faith that is all about trusting them to help, in all the ways you need, all the time.
