"This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
Lately the Lord has been showing me the extreme value of simply living in the DAY He has given me when I wake up. I am not discounting the great value of being a planner and looking ahead to be responsible to accomplishing the tasks assigned to me, believe me when I tell you that my day-week-month-year schedule gets really nuts at times… but for my own peace of mind, when I wake up, when I open my eyes and look at my ceiling, I think of our devotional verse and start my day by saying out loud even before I sit up in my bed: “THIS is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be GLAD in it.” Psalm 118:24. I usually have an idea what my day holds for me, but sometimes I don’t. Some things I look forward to, others I may dread, but what I have discovered that this verse means to me in this season of my life is that WHATEVER today holds, I will rejoice because God made this day, He called me into this day, He ordained that I would walk through this day, He already knew what this day would hold for me, and HE is going to walk WITH me through it and I will CHOOSE to REJOICE IN IT!!! Can I get a witness??????
And you know why we REALLY can rejoice in THIS Day? because In the Gospels, Jesus also quotes from Psalm 118 when he tells the parable of the landowner Matthew 21:33-46. Paul also refers to parts of Psalm 118 in his writings to the churches when he focuses on: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone..” Psalm 118:22 Jesus is the cornerstone! We are the living stones that are being built up on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, with Jesus as the very cornerstone! So what is the day we rejoice and be glad in besides each day that He gives us a heartbeat and breath in our lungs???? The day that Jesus Christ became the sacrifice for our sins and became the cornerstone for us! It is the gate of the Lord that the righteous will enter. Psalm 118:20 Not because of our righteousness, but the very righteousness of God that He gives us when we trust Jesus. It is the reason we have VICTORY over the ruler of this dark world. It is what crushes satan’s head under our feet as we STAND on the truth of God’s Word and His promises!!! Jesus has become our salvation! (verse 21) It’s the Lord’s doing. (verse 23) It is a gift we receive from Him. It is not deserved, but the benefit is HUGE! We become sons and daughters of God! We become co-heirs with Christ! We who come in the name of the Lord are blessed! (verse 26) God has given us the light of the world which is Jesus (verse 27) We give thanks to God because of His loving kindness that will last forever! (verse 28 & 29).
Here is Psalm 118:20-29 for you to meditate on for the rest of today:
This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting.
So, yeah. I say rejoice in every day. I say rejoice in TODAY! It is a gift from God. And the next time you say, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” think about what that really means. God’s only son who was God made flesh died for you so that you could enter into His presence and live there forever! The day that He did that for the whole world is worthy of our praise EVERY DAY indeed!!! So let’s get busy, brothers and sisters, and start declaring that TODAY… this Day is the day that the Lord has made. We don’t know what tomorrow holds… we don’t even know if we will have a tomorrow, but for right now, right here, in this day we will rejoice and be glad in it! And if today our Heavenly Father leads us to a walk along the beach, or play with our children at the park, or sit in rush hour traffic, or to share our faith with an unbelieving friend or co worker, or to a celebration, or to a promotion or to a graduation, or to a hospital room, or to the side of a friend in need, or to the side of a grave, or to a courtroom, or to a jail cell, or to a difficult task at work or school, or an opportunity to face and slay a giant in our lives or in the lives of our loved ones…. No matter what today brings, let us decide now to rejoice and be glad in it! And remember, His loving kindness is everlasting! That has to put a smile on your heart!
Shalom,
Sister Lahoma
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Lahoma, just reading what you write each time puts a smile on my heart too! Thank you for another uplifting and inspirational devotional. God sent a bunny and birds to greet me the minute I opened my door this morning...was A.W.E.S.O.M.E!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that your devotional was written on the foundation of Psalm 118:24 because today I woke up with an overwhelming awareness of and joy over God's creation. I somehow wound up studying what it means to "delight in" something because I realized the feelings of pure joy that I felt when I stepped outside, inhaled the fragrances of the day, and said hello to the bunny that was nice enough to let me snap his picture. It made me aware of the fact that I need to step outside first thing EVERY morning if I want to really capture the essence of God’s loving ways towards me. (Often times, I don’t step outside until after I’ve studied, prayed, eaten, yelled at everyone…etc. I’m kidding, I don’t yell at everyone, at least not everyday). The point is, today, more than any other day this week or even month, I found it so easy to rejoice and be glad in the day (hence the irony of your devotional topic) that God has made. I found a new skip in my step in every moment after seeing the bunny, hearing the birds, and smelling the invigorating fragrances of His creation. Three hours later I read your devotional and I really believe that in my own life, God used you to speak directly to me, as He so often does. What did He speak? I believe I need to start each of my days going straight from bed to the front door, bypassing all of the formalities of everyday living with Him. I think it’s so easy to get bogged down with studying His Word and striving to live as Jesus did, neither of which are easy tasks. If, on the other hand, we first step into the literal creation of each day, I find that the aforementioned no longer seem like work; they become the reward.
Thank you, Lahoma, for again allowing Him to speak through you straight into the opened windows of my heart.
Sister Lahoma - I must drop in on this one, as the other day when Lois and I were crossing PCH, on our way to the beach, we were stopped at the signal, the crosswalk button had been pushed by a stranger, and the green light with the timer was ticking down (i.e., the street was legally ours), yet I looked to my left to see if anyone had designs on running the red to turn right. This sort of unnecesary look is definitely a God thing - and has saved my life many times on the freeways - a city bus came blasting through that lane, illegally, not even a honk, and no doubt would have crushed all three of us. We serve a mighty God, and I too give Him the credit for my "insights". I could care less about the few hairs He is counting on my old head, but I care deeply about how many times He has had His loving hand on my very life! "He...shall neither slumber nor sleep." (Psalm 121:4)
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