Psalms 32:10-11 Surrounded by Love

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psalms 32:10

“Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:10-11‬ ‭NLT

What a wonderful reminder in scriptures, that God’s love, which NEVER fails, surrounds those who trust Him. Sorrow may follow those who do evil, but as we trust in the Lord, He surrounds with steadfast love. Trusting in God is built by relationship. The more we consistently come to Him, He is able to prove His faithfulness again and again. We can trust even if we don’t have all the answers because we know that God is there watching over us as He reminds us is vs 9.

As Proverbs 3:5-6 exhorts, we should trust in the Lord with all of our heart and don’t lean to your own understanding or wisdom( which many times is limited & can’t see the big picture. As we acknowledge God is all of our plans, ways, thoughts, He will direct us. That is a promise!

We can and should rejoice in this knowledge that God has our back! That as we follow Him, He surrounds us with love, His perfect love that casts out all fear, all anxiety. As we rejoice, we become stronger in Him because the joy of the Lord is our Strength!

During this week, as we remember all that Jesus endured so that we may have this vibrant, victorious relationship with Him on this earth and eternally, may your joy overflow and permeate all that you do. May that joy strengthen you, even as it did when Paul and Silas praised the Lord in their chains, breaking the hold of those chains on them and everyone else in that prison! We are surrounded by God’s unfailing love which is always with us! That is Good News!

Psalm 32:9 Don’t Resist

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Ps 32:9

“Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In Ps 32:8 God tells us He will teach and guide us in the path we need to go. In this verse 9, we are encouraged to be willing participants in this process and not be dragged into following Gods instruction. The analogy is that of a stubborn horse, who has no understanding and therefore must be harnessed to be directed. The key words are the lack of understanding! When we understand God’s great love for us and His intention to restore and empower us to live in our purpose, we will gladly receive His instruction.

This is why there are so many references in the scripture to “opening” “eyes”, so that we fully see and know God’s heart, His protection, His plans, and His promises. We are encouraged to study and learn God’s principles so that we gain wisdom, discernment and understanding of how to make good decisions. We should be willing students! I love how Job explained it(Job 42:3-5) “surely I spoke of things I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me to know– my ears had only heard of you but now my eyes have seen!”

Lord, help us to not resist Your instruction or Your presence. Continue to open our eyes that we can clearly see You in all of Your glory, and understand Your heart for us. May we abide in You, keep our eyes on You, as we are being transformed in this process. Search us and bring light to those areas where we may be resistant, stubborn and unwilling and lead us. Help us to yield to you in every part of our lives in Jesus name.

Psalm 32:8 Divine Direction

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Psalms 32:8

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalms‬ ‭32:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a precious promise we have in the Lord, that when we come to Him in prayer, confess our sin(s), not only will he hide us and protect us ( in previous verses 6-7) but he instructs and guides us the BEST path we need to take. And this is not one and done. As we are before Him, He continues to guide and counsel us in the process and watched over us.

Lord, thank you for guiding and teaching us to adjust our sails so that we are following the best and right path for our lives. Your Word continues to be a light to our path in every dark place. Thank you for always being right there with us in the process, counseling us and watching over us. You are indeed a Good Father! Thank you Lord!

Psalm 32:6-7 Urgency of Deliverance

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Psalm 32:6-7

“Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him. You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah.” ‭‭Ps‬ ‭32:6-7‬ ‭AMP‬‬

What a great consolation the Word of God is! The psalmist exhorts us in vs 6 to pray with urgency to the Lord for forgiveness- which will SURELY keep keep the judgement and trial of distressing times from reaching our spirits!

This made me shout! When I read this, I felt that joy mentioned in verses 1-2 in this chapter Ps 32 – this is why we are blessed! When we come to God quickly, we will avoid the consequences and trials of sin.

There is urgency in this passage, so we should not hesitate to ask for forgiveness. The verse says, pray while the Lord is near or can be found. Sometimes, I think this means rather than God withdrawing from us, it’s because when we don’t confess and hold sin in our hearts, we become hardened and withdraw from God, putting distance between ourselves and God. Heb 4:16, exhorts us to “come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of trouble.”

Verse 7 continues, for God indeed is our hiding place and He protects us from all trouble. As we come to Him, He not only forgives us, but He truly covers us and shields us — we are always in a safe place. I especially love the last part of verse that says He surrounds us with shouts and songs of deliverance. In His presence, his declarations of victory over our lives restores us from that broken, weakened place caused by sin. How wonderful is that?!

So put on that that worship/ praise music and bask in God’s restorative presence!

Lord, Let us quickly come to your throne so that we don’t have to be overtaken by stressful circumstances caused by our sin. Help us not only to come to you, but continue to abide in Your presence. You are our hiding place, our shelter and May your restorative grace and declarations of victory build us back up and empower us to reach others that desperately need You.

Ps. 32:3-5 Confess and Be Free

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Psalms 32:3-5 NLT

When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone”. Psalms‬ ‭32:3-5‬ ‭

When we hide and don’t confess our sins, the burden of it weighs us down and impacts our health and mental well-being – we groan under this great burden. Additionally, we lose strength because God’s hand of discipline is heavy on us.

So why do we continue to hide from God? Shame is a primarily reason, just as Adam hid from God in the Garden of Eden after the fall. The guilt of sin makes us feel exposed and we don’t want to be judged. Pride can also hinder us from coming to God. We would rather be right than healed and we are weakened by holding it in.

But then when we finally stop trying to hide and confess our sins to God, He frees us immediately, and the burden is lifted. Like the Psalmist, we have to talk to ourselves and encourage our souls to run to God to get the deliverance we need.

Lord, help us to confess our sins to You and not hold them back. Don’t let pride, shame or anything else keep us from coming to You so that we are unnecessarily carrying the burden of sin. Help us to come to ourselves and quickly confess our guilt – Help us to resist the tendency to hide! Father, by Your Word, the stronghold of guilt/shame to hide is broken in Jesus name. Thank You for forgiving us and freeing us from guilt, in Jesus name.

Psalms 32:1-2 Have JOY today!

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Ps 32:1-2

“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” Psalms‬ ‭32:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is great joy in having our transgressions/disobedience forgiven – our sin is put out of sight or covered. They are not only covered but removed! Ps 103: 12 says “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” We are blessed indeed!


Ps 32:2 continues that the blessing and joy is not only because we have been forgiven, but the Lord also removes the guilt and shame associated with our sin/ transgression AND we can live our lives in complete honesty and transparency- free of deceit! Our records are wiped clean. That sounds a lot like freedom to me!

I am reminded of when you have been given an expensive parking or camera ticket and you are driving around fearful or dreading another one. But when that ticket has been paid or has been thrown out, you are not only elated that it is gone, you move about with greater freedom because it’s no longer hanging over your head.

Lord, I thank You for the joy You bring in forgiving my transgressions and covering and delivering me from sin! Thank You also for the joy and blessing of wiping our records free from the guilt of sin and allowing us to live without deceit, in complete honesty! We declare victory over every intrusive thought that tries to make us relive the guilt and shame associated with the transgression. We are forgiven, Hallelujah! Help us walk boldly and freely in victory in Jesus name.

Stagger Not at the Promises

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Romans 4:20-21

Morning Mediation: Stagger Not at the Promises of God- Fully Persuaded!

I was praying with my sister this morning and Romans 4:20 popped in my mind. I love this King James Version (KJV) in the photo which is what I memorized long ago. I am putting the entire passage (New Living Translation) for full context! What a promise we have in God.

“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” Romans‬ ‭4:18-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.4.18-24.NLT

fullypersuaded #staggerNot

Morning meditation: Galatians 5:25 Keep in Step!

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Galatians 5:25

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Throughout Galatians 5, we really learn the freedom and liberty that walking/ living in the Spirit brings. We can be free from unruly emotions, bad habits and other outside challenges that seek to distract or derail us from the abundant life that God wants for us.

This verse says that since you are living by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit or follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. The visual I received was of a dance partners in ballroom dancing /hand dancing, which requires a lead partner who, with a nudge from their hand at the back, determines the direction, pace and flow of the dance. There must be close proximity and lots of practice to understand what the nudges mean to keep in step with the lead partner. But as we see in those dance competitions, the results are flawless, seamless and extraordinary execution. I love dance!

Sometimes we may want to lead or not move at all, and that can get us out of alignment with the flow of the Spirit. I took ballroom dance lessons with my son for a program he was in, and it took a lot of practice to learn the steps and to follow his lead. Even when we messed up because I followed him it wasn’t too bad because we were in alignment.

God wants us to keep close to Him, allow His Spirit to lead us, match our pace to His because His timing is always perfect, His direction sure and His execution is flawless! #KeepinStep #HolySpirit #LiveintheSpirit

Morning Meditation: Galatians 5:24 Intention

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Galatians 5:24

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I am so thankful that I don’t have to deal with my wayward tendencies – sinful nature on my own. I bring them to the cross and nail them there, because He alone endured the cross and was crucified for our sins. My job is to make sure that they are nailed on that cross.

It can be so hard to to let go of behaviors that may be comfortable, but harmful or detrimental to our growth. But we can bring them to Christ who carries that burden for us.

Nailing things down has a sense of permanence, a long-term resolute intention compared to simply casting off, or even tacking them down. When we nail the sinful nature, we are saying good riddance- it is a permanent separation from that former life.

It may feel like you are giving things up, but you are really setting yourself free from things that were weighing you down. Putting aside those “weights and the sin” that try to encumber us as we run this race.

Paul said, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
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Lord , help us to nail our sinful nature, desires, bad habits etc to your cross and leave them there in Your capable hands. We want to be free in You and walk/ run unhindered in the life that comes by abiding in Your presence.

Morning Meditation: Galatians 5:22-23 Fruit of the Spirit

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Galatians 5:22-23

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Gal.‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Many of us have heard about the fruit of the Spirit, and when we read that listing, we all want them present in our lives. Who doesn’t want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control operating in full measure in our lives. But like any fruit, it comes from seeds that have to cultivated, watered, sometimes fertilized in order for them to grow. Many times branches have to be pruned so that more energy can go into making fruit. There is definitely a growing season, because fruit certainly doesn’t happen overnight.

Seed ✨Time ✨Harvest!

And this fruit isn’t just some extra fluffy candy – like sugar on top. Love never fails and is a sign of maturity, the Joy of the Lord is our strength! Peace guards our hearts and minds and brings wholeness, Patience brings endurance. Kindness/Goodness reveal compassion and the very nature of God toward us. Faithfulness is one of God’s attributes and requires trust in Him to follow His example. Gentleness ( meekness) is a sign of humility and Gods character, and Self control – the discipline to rule oneself, David said was greater than someone conquering a city. The Holy Spirit, our helper, empowers us with all these to live a victorious live.

This passage concludes that if we were all operating in these fruit, there is no law against it- you don’t even need a natural law! These spiritual laws are above them.

Lord, help us yield to your Spirit and allow these fruit to be developed in our hearts to bring abundant life. Have your way Holy Spirit in our lives.