You are the One we look to for hope and healing. You are the One who gives new life so appealing.
You are the One who brings wholeness from brokenness. You are the One who restores ruins and messes.
You are the One, the mender of breaches. You are the One for whom my soul gladly reaches.
You are the One who shelters and saves. You are the One who raises the dead from graves.
You are the One, all-encompassing truth. By faith, my sight needs no visible proof.
For You are the One who saves from eternal fire. You are the One, my glory and holy desire.
You are the One who bears us on eagle’s wings. You are the One who carries us forever to eternity.
You are the One who saves to the utmost. You are the One in whom my soul gladly boasts.
You are the One, the only one God true and right, to Whom none can compare, my soul’s joyful delight.
“To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” Isaiah 40:18
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:” Deuteronomy 6:4
“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:5, 6
Friend, let me assure you today that the faith we place in our Heavenly Father is a faith that cannot be exhausted. Our situations may be exhausting, and certain things or people may be tiresome and challenging, but the foundation of where our faith is placed and stands is sure. Instead of dwindling, like an unending stream, it is renewed and flows fresh every single day (Lam. 3:22, 23). He doesn’t need a cup of coffee to get through the day like some of us. He has all the strength, vigor, and unending support to offer and see us through anything because, “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary…” (Isaiah 40:28).
When was the last time you laughed out of pure joy? Not a giggle here and there, but from true happiness inside, the inner expression of the heart that cannot be contained?
To laugh like this is the outer proof that something wonderful has transpired inside. This type of enjoyment with life cannot flow from an empty well, so to speak. And if you haven’t laughed from pure joy in this way in a while, what is the well that you are daily drawing from filled with? Perhaps it’s not the lack of expression of laughter that’s the problem, because that will be a natural occurrence when one is filled with those things that will naturally produce it.
Then, there must be a problem with what’s in our joy tanks. There must be a depletion of those things that will, without effort, produce joy.
Today, in the natural, you can make a conscious effort to fill your life with those things that bring you delight and enjoyment. It can be something as simple as changing how you view a mundane routine and making it a place where the work may be mundane, but beautiful joy can be found in the work. It could also be as simple as changing thought patterns and where one chooses to focus. Philippians 4:8 helps us with this, saying, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
God wants us to enjoy the beauty this life can offer: “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 8:15, ESV).
While those things are good, true joy doesn’t begin or end there, and we should not rest or be solely content with a natural filling. As we are making the effort to fill our lives with the things that bring us joy, we must be even more mindful not to leave out the greatest source of joy found in the spiritual.
In heaven, we are going to know the extreme happiness of “joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1:8), but even now, that kind of joy is ours for the taking because when we are filled with Christ, who is the ultimate reason for joy tanks being filled, the overflow of all He is in us will saturate our very lives from the inside out.
Trust me, my friend, we may not fully comprehend how it will all be or turn out in our tomorrows or future forever, but we can surely act on what we know today. Today, we know that we can laugh with pure joy because pure joy is what Christ brings to our lives. Today, we can focus our hearts on filling our joy tanks with Him, knowing that our wells cannot help but overflow in happiness and all that blessed pleasure that comes as a result from on high.
The Lord Jesus spoke this beautiful summary, saying, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). Life may seem rough at times but there was a great exchange that took place at that cross on Calvary that gave us the great privilege of laying down what is burdensome and picking up a life filled with JOY!
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” Jude 1:20
Churches, books, inspirational speakers, and yes, even the internet are not short on teaching and encouraging our need to have faith, but I find that it could benefit us to also give attention to the “how” of building one’s faith. We’ve all read the stories and great exploits done in faith, but how was their faith initiated? How did they get to that point of moving in faith? How was their faith built?
Firstly, one must know and understand that to be spiritually healthy, one must acknowledge and embrace the spiritual. Now, I know this can encompass many thoughts that can lead down various avenues people may reference as “spiritual.” But I am referring to the spiritual associated with God, our heavenly Father, the Spirit (John 4:24), and the source of all things holy spiritual.
With that, building our faith first begins with one’s inner man. When we are born again, we experience what is known as saving faith. That’s the faith that prompts us to turn from the world of sin to Christ. It believes in Jesus Christ as the source of our salvation through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension (see John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 2:38; 4:12; Romans 5:8; 6:23). This initiates our relationship with Him. It opens our hearts to that holy communion and fellowship. Without this step, no other can be taken. Without our relationship with God, through Christ Jesus, one’s “faith” is null and void.
But faith does not stop there at that initial step. There is what I like to call living faith. It is the faith that prompts our daily decisions and choices. This lifetime endeavor is determined by how we nourish our faith.
Lastly, faith must be exercised. Faith is like a muscle, if it gets used it gets stronger. It will increase. But if it is never put to the test it will not stand when it is tested. David gives us a great example of how to do this. When he faced Goliath, that was not his first encounter with conflict. It was not the first time he stepped out in faith to do the extraordinary.
He had experience in exercising his faith. Before he even knew there was a giant with a bad attitude, David knew what it was to face a bear and a lion head-on (1 Samuel 17:34-37). Those situations gave him exposure to facing unthinkable circumstances. In encountering those, he also encountered what it means to have and build confidence and faith in the God who delivered him.
Our experiences may not come by such drastic means. Sometimes it may come by taking little steps outside our comfort zones to travel into paths unknown. What may seem like unchartered territory to us is the way God may choose to lead us in increasing our faith.
Jude wrote, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” (1:20). This is not a passive pursuit, but it is a personal one. Something for each individual to walk and live out daily. And as with any good workout regimen, the more consistent we are, the more we do right by our spiritual health, the more positive results we will see in building a stronger faith. We may not see or understand everything before us, but God does. A mature and strengthened faith will fit us for whatever lies ahead.
I know I could have went even deeper with this subject of building one’s faith, but I believe these three basic steps can anyone, in any situation who is serious about increasing their spiritual health.
As a woman of God, a daughter of grace, are we any more beautiful than when we are reflecting the character of our Father?
Graciousness, for women, often applies to her poise, her friendly and welcoming demeanor, manners, status, and more. But, oh, my friends, she is so much more. Those things may describe what people see, but her true excellence comes from within.
Inwardly, she is known and loved by God. Inwardly, His salve of grace has covered her wrongs, hurts, and scars. Inwardly, she has received a holy covering, and she cannot help but cover those she meets in the same manner. Inwardly, she has been touched and transformed by the Father, and in turn, she wants to touch those around her in an authentic and meaningful way.
She is true for people and not a woman of pretense. Sincerity is the rule of her heart. The changed heart inside of her won’t let her be anything but. She sees the personal beyond the people. She is solicitous in her concern for others. She pays attention to them. People and their circumstances matter to her.
She loves the way her Father taught her to love, thinking of others before herself. She seeks to put their needs ahead of her own, selflessly moving through this generation with compassion as her guide, being a vessel fit for the Master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21).
So, she shares her heart through her words, ready to bless, encourage, and lift others with the power of her tongue. She shares her heart through service, loving people through acts of selflessness. This gracious woman adorns herself not with merely external adornments of this world but with “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12).
She is her Father’s daughter, ready to pour grace into the heart that needs it. As He loves, so she seeks to love. As He operates, she wants her life to echo the image of what He desires from one’s heart, will, and mind. She wants her footsteps to mimic His as she walks through this life distributing kindness, gentleness, and compassion; cultivating love, and expressing to those she meets the true beauty of what it means to be a child of God, a daughter of grace.
Where can you pour extra grace into a life today? Your actions, no matter how small, may be the largest act of kindness another receives today. I encourage you, don’t hold back. Pour, dear daughter of God, pour out His love, and let it overflow into the lives of others. You may never know the impact it makes, but no small deed done for the Lord will ever be insignificant.
For more encouragement, check out this poem I previously wrote titled Within.
Every day we are given is precious. Every moment is a treasure from heaven. God perfectly crafted our days in these 24 hours that cycle in and through our lives. He fashioned each one precisely as a gift to get things done and rest and enjoy life as well.
With that being said, I must wonder why time seems so elusive to most of us. Why aren’t we able to craftily work each section of the day for our good and still enjoy other pleasures of life that God endowed us with, things that bring the fulfillment of personal joy and happiness (ex. more family time, rest, and so on) that’s supposed to come with it? Why do we bemoan the idea that there are just not enough hours in the day when God perfectly gave us all we need?
The problem is not with the design of days. Nor will the problem be solved by adding more increments of time to the day. The problem is us and how we prioritize and manage this gift of time that God has already given us.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote that we are to redeem the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Everyday opportunities abound to spend the hours of our lives in one way or another. The choice of how we use it is always ours. Let’s look at it this way: if we have been given a bunch of money to spend, hopefully, we would sit down and think carefully about how to get the most use out of it. That same diligence should be applied to our time management.
The hugest difference between money and time is this: for many, there are usually ways to replenish or re-earn funds to add to one’s finances if money is spent recklessly. However, for time, that opportunity is not there. Once time is gone, it’s gone! Once the moment passes, it passes off the scene as a part of our personal history. Therefore, we are encouraged to make the most of every second given. And, although God’s grace, mercy, and faithfulness are new every morning, we are not promised the dawning of a new day.
So, whether it’s mundane, it’s a moment we won’t get back. Treat it as the treasure it is. If it seems trivial, remember that in the scope of all the days given, it’s a time to be honored. Even if it seems like the most basic of all days, keep in mind there is nothing basic about the gift of waking up again and being given the chance to make the most of the time you have been gifted with.
When you feel there aren’t enough hours in the day, treasure what you have and be determined to make the most out of what God gave you. When we do, we can make a better impact for His kingdom and in the lives of those entrusted to our care. No matter how smart our watches become, it will always be up to us to make smart use of the time that registers there.
Inspiring Your Time:
“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use it as I will. I can waste it – or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” – W. Heartstill Wilson
Pray: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12
Pray: “LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.” – Psalm 39:4
“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” – Colossians 4:5
Word For Life Says... 