Let all who take refuge in You be glad

Am I singing for joy in the midst of difficulty? The joy of the Lord is my strength. Some Israeli battles were won through singing. God went ahead of them and actually made fierce armies turn on each other so that when the army of Israel got to the battle line, victory had already been attained, the enemy lay defeated before them. Much like us, it is a matter of trust. Singers were an important part of leadership in establishing the nation; although, I am not journaling this morning about singing in particular, but in a changed attitude of how I meet the day. Whether in business ventures, relationships, etc. Am I joyful in God regardless of my current situation? The joy of the LORD is my strength!

A Breathe of Fresh Air

After reading through the book of Judges, the book of Ruth is really a breath of fresh air! We leave off in judges with a wild account of a scene taken directly from a page out of sodom and gommorah (spelling?). But in Ruth we see character traits worth standing and cheering for. We once again want to draw closer to God because somebody helps to point us in that direction. Iv'e known from experience that good habits are addicting just like bad habits. You can really get complacent with not exercising just like you can really get into exercising and want to do it more. You can really eat bad habitually, or on the flip side of that really crave eating well, because you are liking the results and crave more of the same. So it is with following God, it can seem terribly religious from the outside but the health inside is so good that you want it on a regular basis. Just like habits though, it's harder to start a good one, but once you do and stay at it.....

Something I've never read before

Judges 13:17,18 What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true? He replied,"Why do you ask My Name? It is beyond understanding." There are all kinds of problems going on throughout the times of the judges, it is a true showing of Gods mercy that He dealt with them and rescued them so many times during their deliberate disobedience. It provides hope for us that God is patient and deals with our foolishness.

FAITH

At Baraks advance the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army. In between revelation and success is action, and that action is faith. It's that weak in the knees action where you don't think you can get out of your seat because your own legs aren't going to support you and God doesn't seem to be anywhere around to help. But you get up anyway and head to the front and somewhere between your seat and the end of your talk God performs something miraculous. His power takes over and you know it's not from you. There was a moment there though when you were trusting and God wasn't jumping in to help you.

GO

Has not the LORD gone ahead of you? Judges 4:14 When is the right time to act? When do we make our move in life? Any move big or small? In a nutshell "when the move is not ours but His." If we walk in step with our God, we are prepared to "do' life as life comes along, big or small. I have a photo shoot this morning, I'm kind of anxious, but I shouldn't be. I believe God cares about my photo shoot. Maybe not in the sense it sounds, but more in a sense that He cares about me. This is a part of my life for one reason or another, and something I have to give to Him and trust Him in all I say and DO. A part of me growing up in every area of my life work, play , business, family, friends. responsibility, etc...