Fatten by Future Joy

The joy that is set before us (in the presence of God) is beyond the delights of the present.

The eyes of those that desire God are satisfied in the life to come than the fleeting pleasures of the present.

In Psalms 17, David seeks the Lord for refuge from his encroaching enemies. He resorts to God to relieve him of their intents to prey on him. He protests his right to be preserved by listing his faithfulness to God. What speaks as the voice of delighting in future joy is the psalmist’s comparison of the wicked’s present appeasements and the righteous future joy.

He says -the wicked- they have their portion in this life. They can only advantage in preserving their gratifications by passing their treasures down to their children.

David’s response shows us where his eyes are. His delights is not in what’s around him. There are anticipating the complete satisfaction he will experience in God’s presence:

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. (‭Psalms‬ ‭17‬:‭15‬ NKJV)

David confesses that he will be satisfied when he is eye to eye with God in his glorified body. This is the eyes of joy in God. When the seeker realizes that pleasures around him are not fulfilling.

They have their peaks, but they plateau eventually with their heart thirsting for more. They eventually reach an anti-climax at the seeker enjoying thoughts that their children will find similar excitement in their toys as they did as they pass away. This is vanity. To seek for joy only to die never to be full, only content to imagine others to meeting your “highs”.

There is fulfilling joy! It is in God whose “presence is fullness of joy” (Psalms 16:11). The heart of seeker in God sees this and is delighted. He knows that one day he is going to be fat with joy one day. One day, his joy will be full and never deplete. It will be a joy that will fill his eyes as he beholds the face of God.

The joy that is ahead of you is beyond what you can enjoy now!

When Love Costs You Everything

In a true act of love, you bring something very special to offer – yourself.

A bus driver from China demonstrated an act of true love when he didn’t look out for himself but for the good of his passengers. He was traveling down the highway like he did everyday. On this routined route sat the driver behind the wheel quiet and collected. Suddenly, a piece of metal from a vehicle from the other side of the road smashed the windscreen and struck the bus driver. Such injury would excuse excitement, but not Wu Bin.

Wu the bus driver, in extreme pain, calmly brought the bus to a halt. He put on the emergency lights on and opened the down. Himself he could not save, but his passengers he could.

Wu rose from his seat painfully. Passengers describe his face being pale and sweaty. Wu professionally told everyone to call the police and to safely evacuate the bus. Wu then passed out. Three days later, Wu died from that metal debris that had caused a liver rupture and several rib fractures.

Seldom do we think less of ourselves for the concern of others. Wu wasn’t concern for his own good, but for the good of his passengers. By 1 Corinthians 13:5 we realize that “love does not seek its own.” Love is not out for a recompense for its acts from its beneficiaries. If so, it would be hard to say that salvation by Christ is a free gift.

If there is any gain in love, it is in the joy of seeing someone else benefit by us giving of ourselves.

A real outworking of love is found in 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Christ showed us the picture of true love. Paul was right when he said in Romans 5:7 that “scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.”

Seldom would someone disagree that Jesus was not just any man. Christ said: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13 NKJV).” He did practice what He preached when He bore our sins on the cross so that we may live forever.

I saw a quote on Facebook by Not Today Coalition which said: “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”

Wu became a hero by simply stopping a bus and calming his passengers. Actions speak louder than words. Let us live with a concern for others.

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (I John 3:18 NKJV)”

Your Heart, Home for God’s Word

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ NKJV)

Devotional author Kay Arthur has a real cozy way to explain verse:

“God wants His Word to be a home to us”.

Who is a stranger in their own house? Is there anywhere that I can kick up and relax – it’s my own home! It’s a place of refuge, security and familiarity – a sense of belonging.

Having God’s Word dwell richly within us is letting the message about Christ become a place of belonging in our lives.

It’s me opening my Bible each day with desire.

Reading the Scriptures should be just a fluid as me using the facet. I regularly use the facet because I want to use it; I need to use it; (my family likes me using it too especially I first wake up and apply the toothbrush to the tongue) and because I enjoy to use it.

The message of Christ was much at home to Timothy. Paul regarded this when he wrote to Timothy:

“…from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ NKJV).

Growing up in the Word was a part of Timothy’s life. It was home to him!

Let the Word live in your life. Make it something you delight to seek.

Don’t just read it. Welcome it home!

Right Believing Changes Everything

Right believing changes everything.

I wish I made up this powerful statement. But I didn’t. Everyday when I sit to watch Pastor Joseph Prince, he ends his program with this quote. One day, it really brought a fresh meaning to me, and I realized something:

Life is shaped by our thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23 says “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”

God advises us to guard our hearts because it determines the course of lives.

A lot of what you do is dictated by how you think.

Before I leave the house, I revisit every room that I’ve used to help me get ready. I have this phobia that I may have forgotten to do something. No matter how many times I assure myself, I still make this walk through! While my dad and my youngest brother who live life by a clock pull their hair, I keep this pattern, because I’ve allowed what I think to determine how I act.

You think racism is natural? No! You teach children to judge people by their skin color. Their hatred they expressed in their older years was molded by the thoughts that they were taught.

You are never going to change your life unless you first change your thinking.

The Bible calls changing how think, renewing your mind:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ NKJV).

You experience the difference of being a new person, that is the new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), by changing the way you think.

You want live different? Get your thoughts right!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ NKJV).

By belonging to Christ, you are different. Now what’s next for you is to
start believing it!

Right believing changes everything!!!