Daily Devotion from Ryan Marks's devotional series: Thoughts

Thought 152

Strengthening

     For the past several months I hadn’t really heard from the Lord or felt anything from Him. I don’t know why.  I did not have the joy and the excitement of praising God that I had experienced so vividly in the past. But today God brought me to a certain place in Scripture, and after I read those passages and prayed, thanked, and worshiped God from my heart I experienced His joy again. My very inmost being was strengthened as I felt that God had come near again.

      The Bible says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) Wow!  If you feel distant from God or discouraged, seek Him and patiently wait. Strengthening will come; either from the Holy Spirit directly or through people, circumstances, and many other things.

      Emotional experiences alone are not anything in comparison to the times that God touches your heart, your soul, and your life! No relationship, other than one with the Triune God of the universe, the CREATOR of Heaven and earth can give greater satisfaction, fulfillment, and assurance of purpose. Let’s praise Him right now!

I sing a psalm to God from my heart and I bid you to do the same:

O Lord hide not Your face from me again!

Strengthen me in the light of Your glory all my days.

May my strength and assurance rest in You and not the wisdom of myself or men.

O God of my fathers, O Lord God of the Founding Fathers,

Come heal the land I live in.

USE me as a beacon in this dry and thirsty land.

I need you Lord, do not depart from me. Always show Your faithfulness to me.

Guide me to teach and to reach people for You, O Lord.

Let You be my focus! May Your power spill out of my life.

Amen and I say it again, Lord, Amen. May the world rejoice in you.

Amen.

       Take a moment and sing or write a personal song of praise to the Lord. When I praise God, I have the strength to continue. If there was a key to the Christian lifes’ success, I believe it would be true worship (prayer and worship from the heart in song, thought, word, and deed), because the joy and strengthening that you then receive no man can take from you.