Daily Reading: 7-1-16
Psalm 66:1-12The Message (MSG)
Today, John and I are celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary. God brought us together and He has truly blessed our years of becoming One with Him and one another. We started our marriage in a posture of worship (connected and submitted to Christ) and we continue to bow our imperfect yet grateful lives before our spotless Maker. God caused our love to create two amazing sons who have recently bowed in worship with their wives to become One. God loves His family and our family is God’s greatest gift to us; we treasure every day we can share with them.
Life is a journey to be lived and enjoyed for the glory of God and the work of His Son, Jesus, and His kingdom. If we are willing to give our lives to Him and surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit to refine the soul, we can know great joy and blessing. God gives us what the world cannot. Honesty, John and I never enjoyed the training portion of God’s work in the soul because it was painful; sometimes God pushed us to the very limit. But, now when we look back over our lives we can see that Father really does know best. He has walked with us in dry times of testing—never left us alone—and He has quenched our souls with His refreshing Spirit when we have opened our hearts to receive. For the record, John and I are still working on becoming One, because we are two very different people (somebody laugh here!). Yet, we have lived our married lives knowing we both need the Savior, Jesus. Connecting to Christ has brought us this far. What an awesome God we serve; He truly does take our breath away!
Psalm 66:1-12
1-4 All together now—applause for God!
Sing songs to the tune of his glory,
set glory to the rhythms of his praise.
Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”
When your enemies see you in action,
they slink off like scolded dogs.
The whole earth falls to its knees—
it worships you, sings to you,
can’t stop enjoying your name and fame.
5-6
Take a good look at God’s wonders—
they’ll take your breath away.
He converted sea to dry land;
travelers crossed the river on foot.
Now isn’t that cause for a song?
7
Ever sovereign in his high tower, he keeps
his eye on the godless nations.
Rebels don’t dare
raise a finger against him.
8-12
Bless our God, O peoples!
Give him a thunderous welcome!
Didn’t he set us on the road to life?
Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?
He trained us first,
passed us like silver through refining fires,
Brought us into hardscrabble country,
pushed us to our very limit,
Road-tested us inside and out,
took us to hell and back;
Finally he brought us
to this well-watered place.
I encourage you, today, to reach out for more of the Father’s Love. If you don’t know Jesus, simply ask Him to forgive your sins, become your Savior, and welcome Him to rule your life. When Christ comes He will take you on a journey; follow Him because He leads to eternal life. The Spirit will bring the power to live in the blessing.
Prayer: Father, I applaud You today for the work You have done in my life, marriage, and family. Truly, to You be the glory for my many, many blessings, as well as for keeping me on the road to life eternal. In Jesus’ name. Amen.