After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”—Genesis 15:1
Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”—Genesis 16:13
Give ear to my words, O LORD,
Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.—Psalm 5:1-7
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;—Proverbs 2:7b
And preserves the way of His saints.—Proverbs 2:8b
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!—Matthew 6:21-23
Each one of the verses above from my Bible reading this morning seemed to join forces to bless me and chase away my dark, useless thoughts. Satan battles for our minds. Mine, if I am not vigilant, is easily captured. I read the news and my mind goes into overdrive with dark possibilities of the future. In reality, NO ONE knows what tomorrow will bring except God. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend my perfectly good today being sick to my stomach and anxious about what might or might not happen tomorrow.
The Bible tells us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So many things clamor to be front and center in my mind...my prayer today is that Christ would be first in my heart and in my mind. I want Christ to be what “I” am about. I want Christ to be treasure.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.—Matthew 6:21
He lights up my darkness. He brings me joy. Ensconced in Him, I can smile through the dark days...even the nights will be light about me.
Paul is such a good example in this because Paul, despite his often terrible circumstances, was joyful. Paul had a mind that was singularly devoted to seeing ALL that came his way in the light of Christ. For Paul, to live was Christ and to die was gain. I want that.
Like Christ, Paul also focused outward and put others first. He clothed himself with humility.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.—Philippians 2:3-4
Lord...I am tired of me...by Your gracious Spirit, focus my heart outward.
Paul set his mind on the heavenly and not the earthly declaring in Philippians 3 that his citizenship was in heaven.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.—Philippians 3:20-21
Father...help me to cling to You and not to this world.
Finally, Paul trusted God with all...he knew he was not sufficient for any of it. It is my guess that this was truly the key to his joy. When I can really see that there is nothing in this life that I am in control of or sufficient for and when I TRULY cast it all on my Heavenly Father, then His peace, His provision and His power are mine and my mind can rest securely in His perfect love. ❤️ (read Philippians 4)
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Notes for my heart on today’s verses...
Genesis 15:1 reminded me that it is God who is my shield and my exceedingly great reward. I am in Christ! I am accepted in the beloved. He is my treasure, my refuge, my strength, my song and my salvation.
The Angel of the Lord’s words to Hagar in chapter 16 have blessed my heart and renewed my mind since the first time I read them 26 years ago. I serve a God who sees ME! He knows the way I take. He is my guide even unto death. I can only fall as far as His everlasting arms.
Psalm 5 tells me from where my true help comes. My voice He will hear in the morning....in the morning I will look up and direct it to Him. In the multitude of His mercy, He will hear me. My God is a God of mercy, truth and justice and He is angry at the wicked every day. They shall not stand unpunished in the day of judgment. But the Lord preserves the way of His saints...they will be blessed both temporally and eternally.
Per Matthew 6:22-23 I will fill my mind with those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and praiseworthy. I will by His Spirit see His lovingkindness before my eyes.
