Faith in Christ >>> blessed

There are two Old Testament words for blessed. One is God blessing us without any cause and us blessing God. The other originates more in humanity and in our doing something to bring a blessing to our lives. In the following verse, the word used is the second word for blessing (also translated happiness).

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” (Psalm 146:5)

Tozer writes that our clamor after happiness can be a snare. Certainly the devil has a host of lies regarding what will do it. Health, wealth, possessions, popularity, achievement, a new house, a big boat, many friends, successful children, the list goes on.

However, this verse describes two requirements that will bring blessing or happiness to me. One is that my help comes from God. I need not trust anything or anyone else. In relying on Him, I will never be ‘helped’ into a sad or sorry state. His assistance in all my life produces blessing and joy.

The second requirement for blessing is hoping in Him. This is about expectations. I might have an unfulfilled need or pray for a good thing that has not yet happened. If I am hoping that God will take care of it, then I’m not busily scheming or trying to change my circumstances. Instead, my heart is trusting the Lord to do whatever it is — no matter how long it takes. This also results in happiness, a sense of being blessed.

Both ‘ways to be happy’ are choices. I can find many other sources for help including my own ideas, the aid of others, books, and so on, and when I ask God for help He might send me to one of those sources, but more often than not, He sends solutions through the whispers of the Holy Spirit and the power of His Word.

I could hope in many other resources as well. If I find myself hoping this or that will happen, I’m hoping in my own ideas, not God. (He always surprises me.) If I’m relying on other people or other powers, then I am not hoping in God. Again, He can use other sources to fulfill my hopes, but none of them should be my first thought if I want to be happy and blessed.

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, these are simple thoughts yet basic to life. Everyone wants to be happy and blessed knowing You and Your grace. Whenever I cannot feel or see solutions, the enemy dangles something else in front of me with the idea that if I have whatever he suggests, I will be happy and blessed. This is not true. Protect me from the evil one and his lies by always reminding me that You are my hope and I’m always secure in trusting You.

My happy place

Happiness can come from various sources. Getting good marks in school used to make me happy. Riding my horses had me smiling. Playing games with my family is still a source of delight, as is something as simple as checking chores off my to-do list.

Good relationships with BFF (best friends forever) and family also make me happy. I’m delighted when I see others reach their goals, or learn new things. Watching my children and grandchildren talking together and hearing them laugh makes me happy. But joy does not go away if none of those things are happening.

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

This verse is in a section where the psalmist warns God’s people not to get upset when evil people do evil things. He isn’t referring to a mere absence of things that make us happy, but to the presence of events and people that are doing just the opposite. He knows that we will ask God to change our situation, but he also knows that God can bring joy even in those situations.

This verse also applies to those whose lives are not pressured by evil people. It addresses two important topics. One is that God needs to be my source of delight. That takes some time to learn. It is far easier to be delighted in the gifts that I can see and experience  instead of the Giver whom I cannot see. Nevertheless, God can and does make Himself known to me. He is real and my relationship with Him is real and intimate. I can delight in my children; surely I can delight in God, but I do have to let go of some things.

Corrie ten Boom, survivor of the holocaust and concentration camps, once said, “I’ve learned not to hold to anything too tightly, for it hurts when God pries my fingers loose.”

The Lord has taught me this regarding sinful, selfish things that I’ve held to. He takes them out of my life and if I resist their removal, the taking is far more painful than it needs to be. Yet He persists. He is my Savior from sin and keeps His promise to do just that.

He also is teaching me to not hold too tightly to the good things that make me happy. I listed some of them. What happens if those things are no longer part of my life? I am no longer in school. I don’t have my beloved horses. All sources of happiness are good gifts, but nothing is certain or permanent. Losses are real and, when experienced, they are painful.

The psalmist says to delight myself in the Lord. This does not mean I cannot have other sources of delight, but it does mean that if He is primary, then my delight in Him can never be taken away. He promises to be with me always. He never changes. I can be filled with delight in the Lord no matter how the world treats me or if my usual happy places become vacant. This is a wonderful reality in the life of those who have a personal relationship with the joy-Giver through faith in Him.

The other part of this verse is about my “I wants.” Some misinterpret it to mean that if we delight in God, He will give us whatever we want. That is not it. Delighting in God means holding loosely to all the other things that I delight in — and letting Him put in my heart the desires He wants me to have.

At one point in my life, I delighted in art and painting. It became more important than many other things. I held on, but He pried my fingers loose. It hurt, but as I learned to find my delight in Him, the desires of my heart changed. Instead of putting first all those things that I wanted to do, He began changing my desires, establishing more godly and God-pleasing priorities.

Then I discovered the secret. We have this pervasive notion that if we do what we want to do, we will be happy. However, this is only true if God is the delight of my life and the things that I want to do are grounded in those desires that He has put in my heart. Then, and only then, do I experience deep and lasting joy.

****************

Oh Lord, You make possible a rich and intimate relationship with You that brings me more delight that I have ever known in anything else. As I delight in You, You change my “I wants” and bring them into line with Your perfect will. Living in that will is the most joy-producing, fulfilling way to live.

One of the desires that You place in me is that others also know this amazing truth. Delighting in You produces more joy, contentment and sense of purpose than all other pursuits. Thank You for being here for me and for daily filling my heart with an increasing desire to love and obey You. 

(Clipart credit)

To Live is Christ — joyfully in God’s will

Sometimes I say I cut my teeth on the King James Bible. For that reason, when I read more recent translations, the KJV words come to mind. For instance, my devotional guide offers this verse:

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18)

The KJV says “where there is no vision, the people perish.” That motivates me to check a Hebrew dictionary. In it, revelation or vision simply mean any sort of divine communication.

The other word is more interesting. Restraint can be translated several ways including: move to leadership, be naked, be let loose, be without restraint. Perish isn’t included, but I suppose the KJV translators saw that as the end result of freely sinning, or being a lead sinner, so they used that word.

Scholarship may revisit the way to translate words here and there, but the essential message of the Bible is not changed. Without divine communication, people are unrestrained in their sin. Even with a revelation from God, people sin. Unless that revelation is obeyed, we become unrestrained (take the leadership) in sin. I think of this passage:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. (Romans 1:18–24)

This portion of the New Testament goes on to describe sexual sins. Today, those committing those sins are demanding their “rights” that their lifestyles be not only condoned, but made legal. The words “move to leadership, be naked, be let loose, be without restraint” definitely come to mind.

How is this practical for me? I remember once reading a verse that seemed to say that without the Lord I would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. I interpreted it for myself to mean that without Jesus, I would fall into the same sins as those ancient peoples. It made me instantly both terrified and grateful for my salvation. Now I know that the verse was talking about the judgment of God on those people. It means that without Jesus I would be doomed to the same harsh judgment as those cities full of wicked people. But the other interpretation isn’t far off. Without Jesus, who knows what I would do?

Salvation and living for God depends on revelations from Him, not so much visions but some sort of divine communication. It is His Word, both written and Living, that produce the changes in my heart. Without Jesus, I would have no self-control and would do whatever my sinful desires dictated.

The verse from Proverbs talks about righteous living in terms of law-keeping. Since Christ lived and died and rose again, God’s people are righteous only by His grace and by His indwelling presence, not by what we do. However, grace produces a change in what I do, and walking in the will of God results in great peace and joy.

The whole world wants to be happy. Everyone pursues what they think will make them happy, whether it be money, power, good health, reputation, achievement, or popularity. Following Christ and doing what He says may result in some of those things, but even if it doesn’t, God’s Word is correct: those who obey Him are happy, more than happy — we are joyful.

What could be more practical than that?