Tag Archives: delight

MOLLY AND ME – MY DELIGHT

Christian Life, ,

Molly is a cute little dog. She is no longer pretty, somewhat misshapen with back paws that point inward, front paws that point outward and hump of fat on her chest so low it drags on the ground. Her legs are super short, her body super long, but she has deep brown eyes, and her gaze at me soft and loving.

Her muzzle is turning white, and her dappled coat, always red-brown and shiny, is becoming more marked with white as she grows older. However, she is still exuberant (at times) and bouncy as she chases her ball or darts after “prey” which includes frogs and geckoes… and hadidahs!

Molly does crazy things like sleeping on my dirty laundry and entertain herself by rolling around on her back in her bed. She loves squeaky toys but ends up destroying the sqeak because she thinks it’s “prey”!

With all her crazy features and funny behaviour, I delight in her. As old as she is, she will always be my “baby girl”. She is always in my thoughts. When I go shopping, I look for ways to “spoil” her with little treats. She is a big part of my small world.

If I delight so much in a little animal, how much more does God delight in us, His crazy and funny children!

Zephaniah says that God sings a wild and exuberant song to express His delight in us.

‭Zephaniah 3:17 NLT‬
[17] For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

The Hebrew word, Rinnah – meaning a ringing cry, can be translated as “Shouts of joy, singing in triumph”, a sort of victory cry.

Is it possible that God sings and dances over us because He is so happy? What could delight Him so much that He sings a crazy song?

Look at this verse…

‭Psalms 5:12 NIV‬
[12] “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

The Hebrew word “ratson”, meaning favour or goodwill, can also be translated “delight”. God surrounds and protects us with His delight.

One usually never stops thinking about the person in whom one delights. No matter what one is doing, one’s thoughts soon stray back to one’s beloved. David said that God’s thoughts about us are more than the grains of sand.

I walk past a pile of building sand on my daily excursion with Molly. I try to think what it would be like to sit down and count the grains! Impossible! That’s a silly idea because David was simply trying to tell us that God’s thoughts about every one of His children are too many to be counted.

Why is God so delighted with His children?

Firstly, I think, because His daring plan to rescue us has worked. Think of the millions, perhaps billions of lost sons and daughters through the centuries, who have come back home to God because they have believed in Jesus.

Secondly, I think, because God is delighted with the finished product. He has worked hard, through our lives on earth, to recreate us in the image of His Son. He wants us all to be exact replicas of Jesus. It will happen when we come face to face with our Saviour.

‭1 John 3:2 NLT‬
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

The Father is crazy about Jesus. He wants us all to be like Him.

‭Matthew 3:16-17 NLT‬
[16] “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. [17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

He gave the Son His Spirit without measure.

‭John 3:34-35 NLT‬
[34] “For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. [35] The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands.”

Thirdly, if God surrounds us with His delightful thoughts about us in such volume that they can’t be counted, then He wants us to be completely secure and protected until He calls us home.

‭John 10:27-30 NLT‬
[27]” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. [30] The Father and I are one.”

If that’s God’s view of us, then we should also be dancing and singing with delight because we should be as crazy about God as He is crazy about us.

The Beast Is Dead!

Bible Study, , ,

THE BEAST IS DEAD!

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in me.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Romans 7:21-25.

Despair! Was there ever despair like this?

Trapped by a power much stronger than himself, Paul felt as though he were caught in the claws of an enraged beast which was destroying his life and he was powerless to overcome it. Have you ever felt like that?

Years ago I was in a relationship that produced ongoing cycles of anger, resentment and bitterness which lasted until I was able to forgive, only to begin the cycle all over again when the same provocation happened. In despair I cried out to God, “How will I ever get free from my old nature?” I, who am not given to seeing visions, had a vision that morning on my knees.

I found myself in a walled garden. It was springtime and the garden was full of new growth. There were trees and flowers everywhere; new plants were coming up and the garden promised to be very beautiful. But there was also a huge black beast in the garden. It was pacing up and down, trampling the plants, and causing destruction wherever it walked. I cried out to God, “O God, how can I get rid of the beast?”

I heard a voice say, “Turn around.” As I did so, my vision changed. I was inside an ancient tomb. The tomb was empty, but there were signs that a body had been there; bloodied grave clothes lay on the stone slab. Again the voice said, “Turn around.” As my eyes became used to the gloom, I saw the beast lying dead on the floor of the tomb. My heart leapt for joy.

Once again my vision changed; I was back in the garden but this time there was no beast to destroy. The trees were heavy with luscious fruit and the flowers were in full bloom. There were no weeds and the paths were neatly laid out. Jesus, the gardener, was walking with me in the garden. “This is my garden,” He said. “The fruit belongs to me. You may walk in my garden but you may not pick the fruit.”

When the vision faded, I felt light-hearted and free. I understood that God had given me a vivid picture of Romans 7 and 8. The beast in my vision was my old nature, ruthlessly destroying everything wherever it walked and I had not power to control it. But…Jesus put the beast to death when He died on the cross. When He rose from the dead, the beast was left lying in the tomb. It no longer had the power to destroy in my life.

The garden represents my life, and Jesus, the gardener is in control. By His death He has put to death the power of my old nature to control me and to destroy what He is cultivating in me. As long as I allow Him to take care of my garden, my life will bear fruit for Him because the beast is dead and no longer has any power to destroy what He is growing in me.

Despair has been changed to hope. I am no longer a slave of sin. My old nature remains but it lies dead in the tomb. Its only power to influence me depends on whether I allow it to do so by believing that it can still hurt me. As long as I believe the truth that Jesus has set me free from the power of my sin nature, I can choose to obey God and allow the Holy Spirit in me to strengthen me to obey.

Once again, it’s a partnership of faith between me and God. I believe what God has said; I make the choice to obey Him; by His grace He enables me to do what I have chosen and He gets the praise!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.