No matter what circumstances we're going through, we can have joy. Do you believe that? I know, you'd think that difficult times and joy wouldn't go together--but they can. We see that many places in the Bible and particularly in the Psalms. During tough times, over and over again, David writes about having joy. So what's the key? Well, as I read Psalm 40 today, a couple of things stand out to me about having joy. First, verse 4 says, "Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord" (NLT). Then down in verse 8 (I love this verse) it says, "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart" (NLT). So those verses let me know that I need to trust God and make His will for me an absolute priority. David was so good at doing this. Ok, I'm no David, but I am working on it, and reading God's Word consistently is the most important thing I can do to be in tune with God--to trust Him and have the desire to do His will (and, of course, to have that joy).
So as I sign off today, I want to encourage you to stick with your Powered by 4 readings. I also have a little challenge for you. As your life gets busy this week and circumstances crop up, would you make it a priority to stay in the Word? I'll take that challenge with you, and then let's compare notes throughout the week about how being in the Word has helped you. Come on, I know you can do it. :) Talk with you soon. Tami W.
Hi Tami: I especially like Psalms 37:23-24. I feel the hand of Christ leading and guiding me. I pray for the nonbelievers that someday they will also know Christ.
Hi Tami, For the past 4 days I have been studying and meditating on Ps 36-39. They are full of wonderful truths reminding us that if we delight in him, he will delight in us. They reminded me also that "the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; and, also what will happen to us if we don't forsake evil ways and trust in him. Of the four Psalms there is one word that stood out above all the others for me. "Stronghold" (Ps 37:39): it made me stop and really think. I've always thought of strongholds as negative things that Satan loves to see us in bondage to, things like lust, gluttony, addictions of all sorts. They are those areas of our lives that Satan knows are weak spots that he aims for and wants control over in order to pull us away from God. But, here in this Psalm, it says "he (God) is their stronghold in time of trouble." He will deliver us if we take refuge in him. I see that a stronghold with God is a positive, wonderful safe place to be. I had not thought of a stronghold like this before! God wants to be our stronghold, for only when we are his and we place our trust in Him can he deliver us from the one who wants nothing but negative strongholds over us. In God's stronghold we will triumph.
Hi Tami and other dear readers...
To be honest, I haven't been following the readings as much as before. I've let my ridiculous schedule get out of hand and even though I have been thinking of scripture, I haven't been reading it like I know I should. Please pray for me :)
Thanks my friends!
Powered by 4 has been an answer to my prayers. I don't currently attend a church, but I am fortunate to have a weekly Bible study where I work. I had been finding it difficult to find time to read the Bible everyday. Too much to do in the morning and too tired after work. Powered by 4 has given me something to be accountable to and other people just like me to read about. I am really enjoying both my work Bible Study and this website. It seems something new is revealed to me every time I read the new verses. What a joy I've been missing out on all these years. I thank God for you all.
Hello Tami and P4 team,
I'm so thankful for God's grace and his unconditional love for me. I have to agree with Stacy that there are times when I don't make Jesus my priority because of work, kids and other life situations. And as we all know, it's harder to walk on the narrow path than it is to walk on that wide road ... a road I don't like being on. But because of God's grace, he snaps us back in reality real quick.
Tami, I'm taking you up on your challenge to stay in the word and not allow anything to come between me and my walk with the Lord. Today I read yesterday and today's lesson at work, because last night I had Life Group at my church and I knew that once I got home this evening, I would be distracted by any and everything ... even blogging on this Blog (LOL)!
Have a blessed evening and goodnite to all. I will pray for all of you/us that we stay strong in his word, keep his commands and follow him to the day of his coming.
Peace,
Tina
Stacy H - hang in there. Some days ARE tougher than others. Don't let the world dictate what you will or won't do in a day. For me, I get up earlier so that I have time to myself, but the weekends that I'm off are very tough.
Hi Tami, I love Powered by 4. It's getting me up earlier every morning so I can have quiet time to read God's Word and to pray and meditate before the day starts.
This mornings reading from Gal 1:1-10 reminds me how careful we have to be in this world today to remain grounded in the Word. There are people out there who love to pervert the Gospel and have us believe things other than the truth from God. The word "confusion" speaks to me of Satan; it's his best way of putting a crowbar under the foundation of our faith and working away from the bottom up. Satan loves a confused mind.
Dr. Kroll talked the other day about what the word "preaching" really means. It means to proclaim, call out or to raise your voice with gravity and authority. Paul was sent by God with a specific message to preach to the Gentiles. If we don't stay grounded in the Word, when we hear someone "preach" something other than the true Gospel, we can become confused by it. We won't have the knowledge to refute what we have heard and Satan gets a chance to wedge that crowbar just a little more until he makes a big enough crack through which he can infiltrate our thinking. This can lead to our falling away from God before we even realize it. As Paul said to the Galatians in verse 6, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you ..." He said that what they were listening to was "no gospel at all." I wouldn't want to be one of the perverse preachers, their end is eternal condemnation. In Christ I have eternal life, praise Him!
Tami, please let me know if my blogs are too long. I don't think I could ever say what comes to mind as I read God's word in just a few sentences, but I can try! I get so excited and want to share with others what God as shown me. I am so grateful to have found this site and especially the Powered by 4 daily readings. I need structure and this gives it to me. Thanks.
Mary,
Thanks for your encouraging words today. You are right on about our need to stay grounded in the Word so we can recognize and then refute false teaching. It's good to hear that the Back to the Bible program and P4 are helps for you. And, no, your blogs aren't too long. You may have noticed I can't quite seem to keep mine short either. Sometimes you just gotta say what you gotta say. :-) Tami W.
Good morning,
Stacy, just so you know, I'm Praying for you, and for all the P4 People. This is an other thing that I feel I am to do. God is calling me to Pray for all of you, and I Praise God for that. I'm always glad to hear from somebody, and has a Prayer request. Because that to me means, there is HOPE for that Person. Halleluja.
Press on Stacy, remember WITH God, everything is Possible.
And Mike, I like that what you shared, about getting up earlier in the morning, so that you would have time for yourself, reading the Word of God. I myself, do the same thing, I get up about 3 hours earlier than I have to go to Work. But I like it. I do the same on the weekends, because I do not have the weekends of. So for me, that part is easy. Keep on reading, God will Bless you for it.
God Bless you all.
Hi Tami:
First I want to say how much I appreciate BTTB and the e-mailed devotionals each day. Being Gen-X and tied to my computer this is something that works for keeping me tied in to God’s Word.
Joy in difficult situations? Yes, I can go with that. It seems that when life goes sideways on you and you face the really big, really difficult times God gives joy. But here’s my question. How do you find joy during the dry, barren, desert times of life? I have found, for me at any rate, that there are many, many more of the desert times then of the times of intense difficulty.
The Bible talks about a “leanness of the soul” (Ps 106:15). This leanness, or desert time, comes not necessarily during the times of intense difficulty but during the times when other parts of life are going well. How do you find joy in those times? Please don’t give me the Sunday School, or Bible School answers of draw close to God or spend time in His Word. I know those answers, but they don’t seem to answer this question. Any thoughts?
Thanks again for your blog and devotionals.
Well I said in my Monday blog that we should check in and compare notes about how being in the Word has helped us this week. Here's my check in.
Yesterday, I kind of had a hard day and I really let a couple of circumstances get a hold of me. As I was going to bed last night, I was stressed and a little down and I woke up this morning still feeling somewhat that way. I prayed which helped, but I just couldn't seem to shake it. So I went downstairs to have my breakfast and read my Bible. I'm reading right now in 2 Chronicles and today my reading was all about King Jehoshaphat. It was exactly what I needed to read this morning. Did you know that when King Jehoshaphat was afraid about his circumstances that he "set his face to seek the Lord"? In 2 Chronicles 20 Jehoshaphat received information that a huge number of armies were coming to attack. He became afraid when he got that news. So he sought out the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Verse 4 says "And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord." In verses 5-19 we see Jehoshaphat pouring out his concerns and requests to God. He didn't hold anything back. I love verse 12 where it says "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." Then in verse 15 we read this "Thus says the Lord to you 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.'" How awesome is that?
As I read this, it's like the light bulb just came on--I got it. Don't hold back. Tell Him what's on your heart. Don't be afraid and quit worrying because the battle is not mine but God's. I'm so thankful that I stayed in the Word this morning. I faced my day with an entirely different perspective and attitude from the one I woke up with. Thank you Lord!! Tami W.
This is a response to Insurance Guy.
Thanks for your blog and your question about finding joy in those desert times (and we all have them). I don't want to give you, as you call it, a Sunday School answer, so here are my thoughts.
Frankly, it's tough to have joy in the dry times and I don't enjoy it at all. But I've discovered that whether I have joy or not (in any situation--good, difficult or dry) is a choice I have to make each and every day. So when I wake up, I try to start the day with the mindset that no matter what I'm feeling, this is the Lord's day and I need to rejoice in that, if nothing else. Do I succeed in that every day? I'd like to tell you yes, but I can't because it's not always that easy to do. On those days (or longer) when I'm in that desert, if I'm not intentional about keeping focused on God and His goodness, if I fail to recognize that He is in control, then I can really falter.
I have to keep in mind too, that joy and happiness are not the same thing. Happiness is based on our feelings and emotions. As a result, it's ruled by circumstances and can flip flop all over the place even in one day. Joy, on the other hand, is an approach to how we live out life from day to day. That's why I have to make that choice each day.
I hope this was helpful and made sense. I sure wish there was an instant fix for the dry times but I'm not aware of any. Plus, I truly believe that God allows those times in our lives to heighten our dependence on and need for Him. One more thing, I've attached a link to an article on spiritual dryness that you might want to check out. You can read the spiritual dryness article here.
Hang in there. We'll be praying for you. Tami W.
I wanted to stop on by and thank those of you who wrote to me personally, for praying for me. Yesterday was one of those days when I just had to take off of life. In other words, I was still and didn't do anything - I just had to rest. Very much like Tami wrote too, our feelings don't dictate our faith, but sometimes, those feelings can get very overwhelming.
I am committing to do my best to be in the Word. This morning I read Deut. 28:1-8 and it was such a reminder to me to be obedient and as a result the Lord will bless us. I am very thankful for that! But the obedience part can sometimes be very hard :)