Righteousness & the Oil of Joy

You love righteousness, and hate wickedness; therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions...

Psalm 45:7

I love how God connects righteousness with the oil of gladness in this passage. The psalmist speaks of Jesus and says that because of His righteousness, the Lord anoints Him with gladness.

Psalm 16 says that in the presence of God is the fullness of joy. Jesus never left His Father's presence, so I am sure He was the most joyful man that ever walked the face of the earth. Jesus had that constant communion with God going so that He lived in His presence day and night.

It's not that Jesus was absent of human emotion. Of course, He experienced sadness and anger; there are examples of these in the gospels, but Jesus had a "living water" that never ran dry. He had a constant flow of life running through Him at every moment.

I've seen so many movies and audio versions of the Bible where Jesus looks, sounds, and acts depressed. Let me tell you, He was anything but that. Jesus was and is the most joyful person alive.

Jesus was not only joyful because He was in constant communion with the Father, but also because He lived and walked in righteousness. He was in a constant state of agreement with God. Never was He out of line with the Holy Spirit--not once.

For me, when I am walking in line with God, I am one of the happiest people I have ever met, but when I am out of line with the Holy Spirit, I am one of the most miserable.

Now, I am not saying that I am not affected by outside circumstances which make me happy or sad; Jesus encouraged responsiveness (dancing with the flute, lamenting with the dirge), but I am speaking of a deep immovable joy that surpasses human emotions. I want something deep inside that is unshakable.

Many times, the reason outside circumstances rob me of deep joy is because I am uncertain of the truth of God's love and affection for me. So many lies and questions flood in, and I let them in my shaken state.

However, we have to stay constantly plugged into God's truth, raise up the shield of faith against those lies; thus staying in agreement with righteousness and plugged into the living water of joy.

It is easier said than done, but we have a great Example to follow and a Helper who will never leave.

Tell Him How You Really Feel...

Sometimes we just have to tell God how we really feel. So many times, in an effort to be holy, we hide our true feelings from God. We don't want to complain. We don't want to cuss or say things that we know are against truth. We don't want to verbalize the lies going through our heads.

If we did those things to our friends, family, or neighbors, it would be gossip, strife, complaining, murmuring, etc. However, trying to hide our feelings from God is futile. He already knows them anyway. He already knows the thoughts in our hearts. He already knows the questions we have. He is not a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but in all points, He was tempted as we are; He knows how we feel.

In the Psalms, David poured out his heart to God. He told God the truth about what he was thinking and feeling.

The prophet Habakkuk was real with God about the injustice around him. He was honest with God about the skewed injustices happening around him.

Jeremiah did the same thing. So did Moses. These guys did not try to hide from God how they really felt in the name of holiness.

Now, they didn't go around complaining to people. That's a different story. They didn't "vent" to their neighbors. But, they were honest with God about how they really felt. They asked God those tough questions, "Why did you let this happen?" "Where are you?" "Are you going to do anything about it?"

Asking God those questions on a personal level is not blasphemy. It's honest. We all have those questions, and if we are not honest about it, it allows a wall to be built in our hearts against God. We can ignore those questions until we are blue in the face, but they will never go away until we lower the wall, and let God come into that place of confusion, anger, and mistrust.

Once we let Him into that place, He can bring healing and restore our trust. Then, we can go to a deeper level of intimacy with Him. But we have to let Him. We have to be honest with God.

When you find those questions coming up, get out a piece of paper and tell God how you really feel. Be honest with Him. It won't be pretty, but in the long run, it will open your heart to Him in a deeper way and give Him permission to come into those places of distrust and anger. It will allow for Him to show His love to you in an even deeper way. He knows anyway, but He is waiting for you to open your heart to Him.

Thoughts on Divine Appointments & the Gift of Faith

I am constantly amazed at how God orchestrates our life and circumstances in such a detailed, profound way. Many times, we don't even notice it, because we don't take time to reflect on the little things, but when we are wholeheartedly pursuing the Lord, He uses every circumstance to bring about good in our lives--even if it doesn't seem so at the time. If we are not whole-heartedly pursuing Him, He will orchestrate every circumstance to get us to the place of calling out to Him. He never stops pursuing and He never stops loving us. He is worthy of all praise, adoration, and worship!!!!

I can't tell you how many times I have seen seemingly inconvenient circumstances turn out to be divine appointments for God to meet with a person or do something amazing--plane delays, buses breaking down, snowstorms, tornadoes, gutters clogged, bug infestations, fender benders, cars breaking down or getting stuck in snow, gum stuck on someone's pants, meeting with the same people in random cities of the world, vicious dogs coming under the authority of the Holy Spirit, seven guys causing a ruckus parading around in their underwear on a college campus, a guy dying his hair the wrong color, a dog getting hit by a car resulting in the reconciliation of a father and daughter, a speeding ticket resulting in a court visit resulting in a woman getting healed of fibromyalgia...and the list goes on and on...Each one of these statements has a story behind it, and each one of these things seemed like such an inconvenience in the moment. Yet, God used those inconvenient scenarios for His Glory, and for someone to MEET WITH HIM!!!!

What do we do with inconvenient moments? Do we complain and get angry? Do we get frustrated, grit our teeth, and try to get through the situation as quickly as possible? Or, do we pause and say, "God, what are you doing right now? Is this an opportunity for you to do something amazing?"

I believe operating in divine appointments is a part of the "gift of faith" which is talked about in I Corinthians 12:7-11. Faith is when you do not see, yet you believe, step out, and see God do something amazing. I am convinced now, more than ever, that prayer works, and that the more we give overselves to prayer, the more we will see God magnify our little efforts--just like when He took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed thousands (Jn. 6).

Things that the enemy meant for evil, God can turn to good (Gen. 50:20). He works all things together for good for those who are called according to His purposes (Rom. 8:28). He even allowed a man to be born blind, not because of the man's sin, but so God would be glorified (Jn. 9:3). He allowed Lazarus to die so that God would be glorified in his resurrection (Jn. 11:4)! God' ways are much higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). No matter how much we try to understand, we just can't--BUT, we can trust Him!!!

I have never wanted sickness in my life, and God did not want it for me, but He has used it for His glory and showed me His love and affection through it in times past. I have been healed of asthma, a kidney problem, and seizures from brain damage with jaundice (as a baby). All were life altering illnesses, and all were healed by God and to Him be all glory and praise!!! No matter what I face in life, I WANT TO TRUST HIM and know that He is GOOD!!!