How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (Ps 36:7-8)
Recently, the Lord ministered to me in a special way. One morning, I was feeling down and discouraged. I was frustrated having to deal with my shortcomings before the Lord. That day, the Lord through a devotional opened my eyes to Psalms 36:7-8 in a special way. He called my attention to the words---the river of thy pleasures.
Having pleasure is not bad. There are other aspects of pleasures that are, actually, good for you. The reason people are seeking carnal pleasures is because there is a void in their lives. That void gets filled with worldly pleasures instead of the godly.(II Tim 3:4) Seeing this, I told God to fill me with his pleasures instead of the world, yet I still had some issues that were causing me problems. Agonizing over this, I asked him to fill me with his pleasures again.
I will never forget what he told me. He said---"Son, when you spend time renewing your mind and spending time in my presence, I will transform your carnal pleasures into godly pleasures!" Joshua 1:8 says to meditate on the Lord day and night. The word meditate means to murmur in the Hebrew. As we confess who we are in Christ and what is ours, our minds will start to change.
Lately, I have been doing a study on the subject of Grace. Grace is a wonderful thing that God has given us, but did you know that Grace will teach us? (Titus 2:11-12) I applaud the many revelations that God has given us concerning the gifts, healing and financial prosperity but have you noticed that there is little teachings of how to overcome the flesh? Yes, the old man is buried under the waters of baptism but it tries to get resurrected once in a while. We need to kill it and keep it buried. (Col 3:5)
Do you want God's desires to be yours? Do you want God's thoughts to be yours? Then, spend some time in the word. Quote God's promises to yourself. I thank God for technology because when I go to bed, I put the Bible on my smart phone and I am at peace with him as I hear his word throughout the evening. So, if you are having issues with your life, it is time for a change. Let's step up to the plate and see what God can do for us. God bless.
Prayer---Dear Lord, forgive me for all my sins and shortcomings. I want to be more like you. I want to have the mind of Christ. Lord, help me to make time to renew my mind. Help me to develop your thoughts. Help me to change my desires to yours as I renew my mind. I want to drink from the rivers of your pleasures today. Thank you for changing me into the image of Christ. In Jesus Name. Amen!
Bible verses provided by www.biblegateway.com
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