Sue O’Donnell. 09.09.20
“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever...Visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance.” (Psalm 106 v 1, 4, 5)
Our joy in Jesus, why this?
This is based on the fulfilment
Of the Lord God’s every promise.
Jesus is God’s love manifest in mercy,
The proclamation of holy truth,
Wisdom given from heaven.
“Happy is the (wo)man who finds wisdom and the (wo)man who gains understanding... Length of days are in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” (Proverbs 3 v 13, 16, 17)
The length of days offered us in Jesus, are eternal.
The gain of understanding develops prayerfully,
As we seek to find and gain the Spirit of holiness.
The riches mentioned are the glorious riches
Gained in the love of the Lord Jesus, Christ the Messiah,
In whom we aspire to live to the glory of God.
“...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love...may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3 v 17, 19)
“...(wisdom is) a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her.” (Proverbs 3 v 18)
Oh, the happiness of knowing You, Lord Jesus and the countless benefits of Your friendship as You draw us nearer and nearer to the Father heart of God, thank You.
You promise that whoever remains in You bears fruit in plenty, not through our efforts, not really, but according to Your saving death and resurrection and the inspiration of Your Spirit.
We praise and thank You for all the input of the Holy Spirit, who helps us to know, understand and appreciate what righteousness is, and all this right standing accomplishes for us.
I ask for the grace to express our faith, our trust in You and dependency upon the Holy Spirit, that this results in charitable works in plenty.
To work for You is a valued part of the joy of Your friendship, Lord Jesus, that which in the Spirit, offers us wisdom and strength in a totally non worldly way.
May our efforts to work in Your name be sincere, be made as worthwhile as the Spirit can accomplish through us, that we be fully honouring our Father and pleasing to Him.
I ask that we are always humble, sincere, industrious, overcomers in the face of setbacks and disappointments, for our efforts to serve must endure. Please live in us and through us daily, Lord Jesus.
To know that the Lord God Almighty is ever with us as He and You, together with the Holy Spirit, are but One, is such a well founded joy, thank You.
I ask that more and more people come to recognise You as our risen, ascended, glorified Saviour Brother, the One who fulfils our Father’s every promise and Your own offer to be with us forever. By this understanding, may they come to know You as the living Word of the Father, full of wisdom, grace and truth, the One in whom, by whom, of Your fullness “We have all received and grace for grace.” (John 1 v 16)
Something which is a significant teaching Lord, - I have only just thought about this – “You were crucified in the weakness of humanity, but You now live in God’s power.” (based on 2 Corinthians 13 v 4 The Truth)
I had realised You share with us in our weakness, but had not thought this through as to the difference power makes to us, a gifting of the Holy Spirit, of course.
The result being: “In the same way, we are weak in ourselves even though we live in You; yet by God’s power we are able to serve because of our unity with You.” (Cont)
All that is needed for a good, godly, satisfactory life is found within You, Lord Jesus, the living and abiding Word of God, to whom we are most grateful for healing, helping and saving us.
You are our full joy. The Lord God has in these times spoken through You in all holy wisdom and truth, such a grace given us, praise be.
We know You and lay claim to You in many roles, but that of Redeemer Saviour, the Restorer to every grace and favour as You are our Divine Healer, this is of the highest merit, thank You.
In our newly appointed life of love given in service in Your name, may we be the truth which adds a flavour to life and becomes unmissable. As You are the light of the world, may we give light, too.
Rescued from the dominion of darkness, identifiable as Your followers, Lord Jesus, may our “Spiritual might be evident to all around us, that they can see the benefits and then please our heavenly Father.” (based on Matthew 5 v 15 The Truth)
You have come to fulfil God’s law of love. You are His offer of merciful forgiveness for any wrong doing.
You come to call us to accompany You on the journey home to heaven.
Our ‘yes’ to becoming Your disciple must be uncompromised. Please keep our faith’s conviction and constancy by blessing us daily with the Holy Spirit as Counsellor and Advocate, One who enables us to endure the world’s hostility towards us.
You did warn us that as they persecuted You, the world at large will persecute us. So let us be neither shocked nor alarmed at a spiritual attack, but clothe ourselves with the full armour given us.
Clothed in Your love, Lord Jesus, we will see amazing results safely evolved and accomplished. May we never give up when the going gets tough, for by the Holy Spirit, You remain with us. You are our hope, our peace and our joy in the everyday.
The zest of the Spirit should be evident to us and through us. If not, something is wrong, and we must pray to discover why and what to do. Thank You for teaching us how to pray.
May our prayer mean we do not plan alone, but according to Your good intention, as we rely upon Your wisdom and look to You for our strength of resolve to complete a God given task.
You, by the Spirit, lead us onwards and upwards to heaven. Thank You for giving us an alert mind and heart, a keen conscience and joyous purpose, experienced when we do Your work.
In Your Spirit’s safe guidance, may we in our turn, be of help to those who do not as yet know You, have not heard Your call to serve in love, for the sake of love.
They miss out on such joy unless we share the good news, the best news ever of who You are and all You accomplish for us. Please give us opportunities to make Your love known.
Oh, the glorious light of Your presence knows no equal, let alone is ever surpassed. To live within the Trinity of love and mercy as You invite us to do, is to experience the joy of fullness of life.
We live in Your resurrection power. This is amazing but true! You are in all we think, do and say as long as we pray and invite Your Spirit of holiness to daily be at work with us.
The most important aspect to life for everyone – whether they know it or not – is to love, honour and obey our Father through doing same in You, by means of the Spirit, to all whom we meet.
Let this be our joy because we are promised “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8 v 10) and we need to be strong to combat satan and all his minions. May the world come to long to belong to You.
Belong and serve, serve and rejoice, rejoice and be truly contented as a son or daughter of the holy Trinity, the Trinity whose hallmark is love.
May this love ever be our strengthening for all endurance and testing by faith. I ask in Your name, Lord Jesus, knowing You never fail us. Thank You for Your constancy and consistency.
Ever we will be fully indebted to You as our Lord, Saviour, Redeemer, Master, the living and abiding Word of not only hope, peace and joy, but consolation and reassurance when we stray.
By Your Spirit according to the will and work of our Father, You are life to us in all the fullness of holiness, such a joy. “Send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead us and bring us to heaven, Lord, our exceeding joy.” (based on Psalm 43 v 4) Amen.
Images by Artist Christine Garwood
http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/
Season
Key Themes
JOY
JESUS
