Tag: joy 2013

Trust in the Lord: Psalm 37:3

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Today we’re going to
muse and meditate on Psalm 37:3. Maybe you’re familiar with it. On Wednesday,
I’ll unpack it and give a practical application! I hope you’ll join me.
Here it is in a
couple other versions:
“Trust in
the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” KJV
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in
the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” NKJV
Musing/Meditation prompts: Do I trust in the
LORD? Remember over past things you’ve trusted God for and how He’s taken care
of you. Think on those moments of comfort when you trusted God in uncertain
times–what other scriptures did He use to “feed” you during those
times? Look those up and reflect. What does “dwell” mean to you?
What is one thing you will do today to show that you put your trust in
God?

*Wednesday, we’ll unpack this verse and take a deep look at what it means and I’ll give a practical application. Hope you’ll join me!
*Feel free to pin the photo to your Pinterest board! 

Joy from Light Bulb Moments and a Lesson from Daniel

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Ah-ha
moments. I love them. How about you? Those moments when the light bulb clicks
on over your head. We’re unpacking Psalm 19 the next few weeks. Let’s look at verse 8 today.

“The
statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the
eyes;” NKJV
Here
it is in the Message:

“The
life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.

The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.”

KEY WORDS Today: Statutes/life-maps/pure/eyes
(always pull a few key words from
scripture to help you understand the meaning better)
Statutes
or life-maps are also translated as precepts.
Statutes
in Hebrew is, “piqquwd” and it means “precepts.”
Precept
according to the online dictionary means:
1. A
rule or principle prescribing a particular course of action or conduct.
2. Law An authorized direction or order; a
writ.
So,
we could say, God’s authorized
directions that come from His written Word make the heart glad and bring joy.
The
order, commandment, of God is pure. “Pure” in the Hebrew is “bar” and
it means sincere, or clear. It enlightens, or brings light to the eyes. Eyes in
Hebrew is “ayin” and it means, “eye” “of mental or spiritual
faculties/qualities.”
So
we could say, God’s Word is sincere and
clear and it gives us spiritual and mental ah-ha light bulb moments about our
life and the direction we need to take.
Let’s
look at someone from the Bible who had an ah-ha moment. We’ll look at what it
led him to clearly do and the result that came from his obedience.
Let’s
look at Daniel. Chapter 9 starting in
verse 1.
“It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the
son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of
his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as
revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy
years.” 
From reading scripture (scrolls and Jeremiah’s word more
specifically), Daniel had a light bulb
moment. Here’s what God told Jeremiah:
“This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early
in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. “This
is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple
of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to
worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. Perhaps
they will listen and turn from their evil ways.”  Jeremiah 26:1-3
God’s people were turning from Him. He’d warned them early on that
if they stopped serving Him, He would do whatever was necessary to draw them
back. Jeremiah has come to warn them and bring judgment–which is fair.
Here’s what God instructed Jeremiah to say, and this is what
Daniel read years later.
 “Say
to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you will not listen to me
and obey my word I have given you, and if you will not listen to my
servants, the prophets—for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you
would not listen to them—–then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed
Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem
an object of cursing in every nation on earth.’”The priests, the prophets,
and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord’s
Temple.  But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying
everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all
the people at the Temple mobbed him. “Kill him!” they shouted. Jeremiah 26:4-7
Not exactly welcoming to God’s
words, huh? So…
“Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his
own defense. “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this Temple and
this city,” he said. “The Lord gave me every word that I have
spoken.  But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey
the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that
he has announced against you.” Jeremiah 26:12-13
However they did not. And…
“‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God
of Israel, says: With my great strength and powerful arm I made the
earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to
anyone I choose.  Now I will give your countries to King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the
wild animals, under his control.  All the nations will serve
him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and
great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.  So you must
submit to Babylon’s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon’s yoke! I will
punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the Lord. I will send
war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it.”
Jeremiah 27:5-8
Seems harsh? Nah, not really
and besides…
“‘They will all be carried away to Babylon and will stay
there until I send for them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back to
Jerusalem again.’””Jeremiah 27:22
When?
“This
entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands
will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.” Jeremiah 25:11
And what will happen then you ask?
“This
is what the LORD says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years.
But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I
will bring you home again.” Jeremiah 29:10
And what famous verse comes after?
 “I say this
because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt
you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jeremiah 29:11
And we know in Daniel Chapter one, it begins. Nebuchadnezzar comes
in and takes them captive, a young Daniel is swept up among them.
At this point in Chapter 9, Daniel is an old man, still serving
the Lord, still reading scripture. He’s been in captivity about 67 years. And
he discovers that the 70 years is almost up. The same words we take comfort in today, Jeremiah 29:11, he took
comfort in on that day.
God was about to do something awesome! Daniel had trusted God on
many occasions. When he refused to eat idol-sacrificed food at the king’s
table, when he interpreted dreams for the Neb and then later his
great-grandson, and of course when he was thrown into the lion’s den for not
compromising his faith.
Daniel knew when God spoke a
word, He was good for it. Do you know that? Do you believe it?
As a result of reading this, of having his eyes enlightened—he knew
good things were coming. Freedom could be tasted! What did Daniel do?
 “I turned to the Lord
God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.” Daniel 9:3
Turned;
prayer; fasted
Daniel’s
prayer is amazing and it’s recorded in verses 4-19. But I want to pull out
these verses:
“But
the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled
against him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed
the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. All
Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to
your voice.” Daniel 9:9-11
God wasn’t being harsh, He was being fair. They rebelled. They had
not followed the instructions.
What does Psalm 19 say? The instruction of the Lord (His precepts)
rejoice the heart. When we do not follow them, when we rebel, we go into
captivity. Maybe not like the Israelites…but I assure you, you’ll find yourself in
bondage. Enslaved.
And miserable.
Like Daniel, we pray. And God,
Who is faithful to forgive us our sins when we confess them, acts. On our
behalf. With mercy. And grace.
 “O my
God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how
your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not
because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. O Lord, hear. O
Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my
God, for your people and your city bear your name.” Daniel 9:18-19
Daniel’s faith and faithfulness to God opened up a special
blessing. God gives Daniel some amazing visions, and he gets to see Christ in all
His glory in a few of them! What could bring more joy?
All because he loved the Word of God.
Practical application: Spend time in God’s Word. When we spend
time with God in His Word, it will always keep us pointed on Jesus Christ.
When was the last time you
had a light bulb moment from scripture? If it’s been awhile, why do you think
that is? And care to share that amazing moment in the comments? 

I’m hosting at LBG today!
Come by and share your
favorite verse about light!


**Photocredit: lightbulb tree: freedigitalphotos/zirconicusso
**Photo credit: bulb with a book: freedigitalphotos/digitalart
**Photo credit: clear glass of water: freedigitalphotos/by gt_pann 
**Photo credit: rubble: freedigitalphotos/cbenjasuwan 
**Photo credit: infant hand: freedigitalphotosNutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot
**Photo credit: faith and believe: freedigitalphotos/thepathtraveler
/**Photo credit: steel cage: freedigitalphotos/bejim

The Joy of Light

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Today I’m breaking
it down. Verse seven of Psalm 19 that is. But go ahead and beat-box if you
choose. It’s not like I’ll feel the spray of spittle from here. Just sayin’.
On Monday, we looked
at the whole Psalm 19 in the Message translation. 
Today, I want to
look at it more in detail (just a portion) in the NKJV. I’m a fan of the NKJV and that’s what I use to study
with each morning, but again, it’s important and beneficial to study your Bible
by looking at many translations. An easy way to do this is by pulling up Biblegateway each morning, or evening when you
have study time, and yes…you should be having daily study time!
We’re focusing on
verse 7 today.
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul;
The
testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;” Psalm 19:7 NKJV
Here it
is in the Message translation:
“The
revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.
The
signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.”
The
meanings are the same but it’s said in a way that gives you a little different
word picture.
God’s
word is perfect. Whole.
The NIV
translation says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the
soul.”
I don’t
know about you, but I could stand to be refreshed. The way for that to happen
is by studying the law of the LORD. His Word. Um…yep, the Bible. Not just
skimming it out of obligation. Reading it to meet a yearly goal. But to digest
it, letting it run like oxygen through the blood stream, bringing life to every
organ and limb of your body and then applying what you’ve studied to your every
day life. If you never do that, it’s pointless. It’s just some  head knowledge. Big deal.
*A helpful hint: Use your cross-reference if you have
one in your Bible, to study. If not, use the online cross-reference at BibleGateway or
Biblos!
This
verse leads us to Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.” NKJV
I don’t
know about you, but I qualify here. I’m the simple. And I could use some
understanding. Am I the only one? Really? That’s what I thought! Then hang
tight with me a few more paragraphs and let’s bring this joker home!
The key
word here is light. The entrance of  light i.e. reading God’s Word, taking it in
and digesting gives light. It gives understanding. I get that. I know what
understanding and entrance mean, but what exactly does the word light mean. Am
I going to implode like a firework? Will I glow like those Fisherprice worms?
Where
better to get a grip on light but the first time it appears in scripture. At
the beginning. Like we are at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of
the Bible. Genesis. Chapter 1. The beginning.
“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and
there was light.” Gen. 1:3 NKJV
God always wanted light. From the beginning. It was the first thing He brought
about. And it’s been a steady topic all throughout the Bible.
photocredit: freedigitalphotos/thawats
He
brought light out to the darkness and separated the two, because light and dark can’t co-exist. They just can’t.
If you bring even the tiniest light to a dark place, it can be seen and it’s
not blinding dark anymore.
But
before He did that, in verse two, something was happening.
“And
the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Why?
“The
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep.”
photo credit: freedigitalphotos/VictorHabbick
But
light was about to come. For the first time.
We have
to ask some questions (that’s what good students do!). What exactly does w/o
form, void and dark really mean?
Without form in the Hebrew is “tohuw”
and it means, “confusion, unreality, emptiness, wasteland, a place of
chaos.”
Void in the Hebrew is “bohuw”
(similar) and it means emptiness, waste
And the
word darkness in Hebrew is
“choshek” and it means, obscurity–which means a state of being
unknown or unimportant.
But with
one word from The Word (John 1:1-3) it all changed. The Spirit was hovering
over the chaos, that which seemed unimportant, a wasteland, that which seemed
empty. But He saw order. He saw something beautiful and He brought light. (and
He kept on going)
Do you feel unimportant? Empty? Like your life is a chaotic
wasteland?
The
Spirit is hovering, waiting on the Word to go forth to bring order. Peace. A
purpose to your life. Just say the word and THE WORD will give the command.
Let the
entrance of His words give you understanding. And light. Light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shines from us inside out. And
it takes the work of the Spirit (sanctification) to do it. It also takes
discipline to crack the book open.
2
Corinthians 4:6 says, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out
of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
NKJV
The
Message says it like this:
 “Remember, our Message is not about
ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is
messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light
up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood
God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.”
Want to
light up the darkness around us?  We can.
The entrance of God’s Words bring order to chaos. Peace to anxiety and fear.
Confidence to doubt. Purpose to a wasteland. Fulfillment to emptiness.
And you
know what a person has when they have peace, confidence, purpose and
fulfillment?
JOY
 The joy of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10
Therefore
with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3
“…But
the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14 This was Jesus talking to
the woman at the well. A woman who had been married five times and was now
living with a man. I see chaos. Lack of purpose. Emptiness. But the Word was at
the well that day.
photo credit: freedigitalphotos/Adamr
Ephesians 5:8 (MSG) says,”You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer.
You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So
no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these
are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please
Christ, and then do it.”
“Awake
you who sleep! Arise from the dead and Christ will give you light.’ Ephesians
5:14
We’re
cleansed and transformed by the washing of the water of the Word. (Eph. 5:26)
It brings light from darkness (new life from death) and it keeps giving us
light to keep shining in a dark/dead world.
Which
brings us back to Psalm 119:130 and ultimately our verse we began with today.
Psalm 19:7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The
testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
Feel
wiser? I do!
Practical application: Study your Bible just
like we did now. Choose one verse. Reflect on it. Then act on it and journal it
at the end of the day.
What one thing comes to mind right now that you can do
to shine light today? Share it in the comments and use it as accountability to
do 
that one thing!
Join me
at Living By Grace. I encourage you to leave a verse about light in the
comments on the FACEBOOK PAGE! Let’s see if we can light it up! 
*Genesis Bible photocredit: freedigitalphotos/JanakaDharmasen

God is Better Than…

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

My one word this
year is Joy. You can read about it HERE.
The verses for me
this year are Psalm 19:7-15. I decided to look it up in other translations. I
encourage you do the same–with any verse or passages in the Bible. It helps
you really get the entire meaning and looking at the same thing with new words
can open your eyes to new personal revelation and application for you life!
My verses in the
Message version jumped out.  And as I
read and took them in, I thought why not take them in with you! Mondays you
and I can meditate together. I’ll call them Meditation Mondays. No, I’m not going
all “ohm” on you. Meditation simply means to reflect, contemplate or
to think on.
 Wednesday, I’ll be tackling  the latter half of verse 7. (It will be more
of a devotion/teaching day.) I hope you’ll come and discover the joy in
something as simple yet deep as light.
The
revelation of God is whole
    and
pulls our lives together.
The
signposts of God are clear
    and
point out the right road.
The
life-maps of God are right,
    showing
the way to joy.
The
directions of God are plain
    and
easy on the eyes.
God’s
reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with
a lifetime guarantee.
The
decisions of God are accurate
    down
to the nth degree.
God’s
Word is better than a diamond,
    better
than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll
like it better than strawberries in spring,
    better
than red, ripe strawberries.
 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of
danger
    and
directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise
how will we find our way?
    Or
know when we play the fool?
Clean
the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep
me from stupid sins,
    from
thinking I can take over your work;
Then I
can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed
clean of the grime of sin.
These
are the words in my mouth;
    these
are what I chew on and pray.
Accept
them when I place them
    on
the morning altar,
O God,
my Altar-Rock,
    God,
Priest-of-My-Altar.
This is a big chunk,
so let’s pick out verse 7 to meditate on today, since it’s the verse we’ll look
at more closely on Wednesday. (*Note: I’m not rigid, if a another verse struck
you, by all means hide it in your heart and keep it close to you today!)
Today’s
meditation:
The
revelation of God is whole and
pulls our lives together.
The
signposts of God are clear and
point out the right road.
Hints to help: How is this verse true in your life? What are some signposts God gave you to point you to the right road? Reflect on how this verse has been true in your life. Ask God to give you the desire to spend more time in his word, to make you whole and to pull areas of your life that need wholeness together.
Today’s question: Verse 10 says, God’s word is better than
strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries. What is God’s Word (and God in general) better
than to you?
Here’s mine: God and His Word is
better than a dark chocolate Hershey bar with almonds complimented with a
Cinnamon Dolce latte from Starbucks! (And that’s pretty stinkin good!)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,O Lord, my strength and my
Redeemer.
*roadsign photocredit: freedigitalphotosbyFrameAngel
*strawberries photocredit: freedigitalphotosbyCarlosPorto

One Word in 2013

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
*photocredit: freedidgitalphotosjscreationzshttp:

December rolls around and I spend my mornings sipping coffee, talking with Jesus about the past year. I shared my accomplishments and failures, renewed goals on Monday. And I gear up for a new year. 

The mornings go a lot like this:
“Lord–ah, can I not slosh coffee on my pajamas just one morning!–anyway, Lord, January is coming. Where are we going this year? What one word would you have me focus on and what verse will you give me for this year? Also, the 21 days of fasting are coming up…What–gulp–will you have me do?” *I won’t be sharing that with you as I don’t want to lose my reward. Things are supposed to be done in secret, ya know. I may have lost it already just by telling you that 21 days of fasting are coming up. SIGH. 😉 
Lately, I’ve been smacking into “loving others” verses, posts, stories etc…so is it love? I mean I can always work on that. Is it love? Lord, is it? I need a sign! 
One morning, early in December, I woke up and a word popped into my head. 
Joy
Joy? Seriously, God? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a pretty jolly, joyful girl. Um…people tell me this all the time. Just last week, the cashier said I had the best smile. You did hear that, right? 
My word can’t be joy. I got the joy. Where? Down. Down deep in my heart. Deep in my heart to stay. And if the devil doesn’t like it…he can sit on a tack. Sit on a tack to stay.
If my word is Joy, then I need a sign. A big fat sign because quite frankly, I want a better word. And though this doesn’t sound joyous at the moment, I do have joy, Lord.
But wait!! Maybe joy isn’t such a bad thing. This year You must be saying my contract is coming and therefore, Lord, I will have even more joy! And You’re going to supernaturally heal my physical pains. Because this year has been the Valley of Weeping. Joy comes in the morning. 
A silent moment. I call that the God-sigh. 
Or what if this year isn’t going to be a year of harvesting the fruit I’ve labored over and it’s not the year for healing. Are you saying I’m going to have to have joy anyway? Or are worse things going to happen and I’ll need that extra dab that’ll do ya? 
Oh for the love of…well…You, pick another word! 
These are what my first several mornings looked like. Scary, huh? I know.
Okay God, whatever. If it’s joy so be it. But I really, really need a sign. An obvious-no-doubt sign–just hanging out there. 
That morning my husband and I went to see my son’s talent show at school. We entered the office and stood waiting along with a bunch of other parents– whose children couldn’t hold a candle to my child’s talent. I looked over by the door and there in the corner stood a toy soldier about my height. Yes, I put toy and my height together. 
A tag hung–the string nearly invisible–off of his soldier’s hat. In bold red letters it said:
JOY
Shut up! 
Inside my head, I said, “Well, that’s a sign hanging out of nowhere for sure. Joy it is.
On Sunday, during the morning service, guess what my pastor preached on? Yeah. Joy. Double dose of confirmation. 
But what verses? And why Joy? Each morning I’d open the Bible and look down to see if God had directed me to the verse. He didn’t. I entered “joy” into Bible Gateway and scrolled through them to see if one would jump out. 
It didn’t.
And then on December 21st, I woke up and took my iPad into the living room where I do my morning devotions. Each morning I read a John Piper sermon or article. I always feel like I’ve been fed to the brim afterwards. This day he shared this verse to this sermon (and here is the link if you want to read it for yourself–The Bible: Kindling for Christian Hedonism.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord
are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the
ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings
of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned; in keeping them there
is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-11
The word joy isn’t found in these verses, but I knew the instant I read them it was the right verse. My insides started bubbling and tears sprang in my eyes. Then God began to give me a tiny break down of the verses.
Each statement has to do with the Word of God and what it does in a believer’s life. And ultimately…it brings joy. 
Another paragraph down, I read this. A third confirmation of my word.
“The Bible Kindles Joy
The reason David praised God with the words, “He
leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul,” is
because he had bad days. There were days when his soul needed to be restored.
It’s the same phrase used in Psalm
19:7—”the law of the Lord is
perfect, reviving the
soul.” Normal Christian life is a
repeated process of restoration and renewal. Our joy is not static. It
fluctuates with real life. It is as vulnerable to Satan’s attacks as a Lebanese
marine compound to a suicide bomber. When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:24,
“Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are workers with you for your
joy,” we should emphasize it this way: “We are workers with
you for your joy.” The preservation of our joy in God takes work. It is a
fight. Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, and he has an
insatiable appetite to destroy one thing: the joy of faith.”

Looks like this year, I’ll be in the Word more than ever before. Join me as I study the precepts, commands, fear, the ways of God and ultimately joy. What are the differences between joy, happiness, and cheer? We’ll look at those in depth through passages and lives of other believers in the Bible. 
Joy isn’t about what we get i.e contracts, agents, material possessions etc… Joy is so much more. So much better. And I can’t wait to discover it all. Looking forward to 2013. Hope you’ll hang around with me and discover it as well! 
*Thank you to Melanie Moore for once again creating–for free–my one word. If you’d like her to create a one word button for you, check out her website and don’t forget to give her a big thanks! HERE

Do you have a one word focus? If so, share in the comments. If not, what are some of your goals for this new year?