Rejoice!

"The Lord reigns!  Let the earth rejoice! . . .  He guards the lives of those who love him, delivering them from domination by the wicked."   (Psalms 97:1, 10 ISV)

What a wonderful thing it is to have God reign!  With God in control, we have nothing to fear and can rest in the shelter of His arms.  Verse 10 of Psalms 97 is such a wonderful promise!  It seems to me to promise far more than what is seen on the surface - and even that is pretty powerful.  Are there those who are seeking to dominate me today?  Who seem bent on making life difficult?  God will deliver me.  Thank you, God!

But I realize I don't have to look "out there" for forces trying to dominate me.  I think of Paul's words to the Romans:

"I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. . . . I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do. . . . So I find this to be a principle: when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, but I see in my body a different principle waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body. . . . Thank God through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, . . . For the Spirit’s law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death. . . .  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace." (Romans 7:15-16, 18-20, 21-23, 25, Romans 8:2-3, 5-7 ISV)

I can so relate to these words of Paul's!  I see it - that force inside of ME that is trying to dominate me - a spirit of selfishness and self-seeking.  It causes me to do things that I really DON'T want to do. For example, I'll make a pact with myself that I will exercise regularly or eat more healthy meals and then find myself doing the opposite. Surely this too is an example of "domination by the wicked", and I am so grateful for God's promise of deliverance!!!  

 

This passage from Romans also gives me pointers to the "how" of it.  I need to focus my mind on the Spirit instead of on my human nature.  Isn't this what I was just writing about yesterday?  The need to focus not on my own weakness and beat myself up for it, but turn my attention instead to God's strength and rely on that!  The results speak for themselves. A focus on my weakness, does not work!  I just keep finding myself doing those things that I don't want to do and experiencing poorer health because of it.  But a focus on God's strength?  I know from other areas of my life where I do this more consistently that it makes a WORLD of difference, and I trust that it will make the difference here too.  

Thank you, Father, for your continued guidance in my life.  Thank you for your strength when I am weak.  May I learn to better rely on you, Father!  Thank you for your promise of holding me by your hand to keep me from falling - "He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." (Psalms 37:23-24 - Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.) What an amazing concept - to hold hands with the God of the universe! Thank you, Father, that you do indeed care about the details of my life and guide me continually.  May I remember to continually look to you for that guidance and strength that I may indeed be delivered from the domination by the wicked!   Thank you, Father!  Amen.