Except at the Cost...

"One cannot love God except at the cost of oneself."
-Mother Theresa

Theme of my Song

"For I delight in your commands

because I love them"

-Psalm 119:47

"Your decrees are the theme of my song
wherever I lodge. "
-Psalm 119:54

"Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.

My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end."
Psalm 119:111-112

I used to groan internally when I reached Psalm 119, it seemed such a chore to read through it! :) Obviously my heart was not fixed on enjoying His word - it might have run more to the must-finish-reading-Bible-in-one-year mentality. I'm not sure when He opened my eyes to the beauty in this chapter, (it may have been gradual) but it's now one that I love. Psalm 119 is such a beautiful reminder of how delightful His law and commands are! (Ironically in opposition to my original attitude. :) )

David sees His Lord's commands as a continual source of joy! He sings of the joy in following God's law, delight in His decrees, God's word as the theme of his song. We follow His laws as our duty, yes, but too much focus on duty blurs the delight! His word can be the joy of our hearts, the theme of our song!

Serving a King is not a chore to the servant who has love for his Master - rather, it is his joy to anticipate and fulfill the King's every desire. We find joy in service to our King, and His law itself is an endless source of joy and delight - because it shows us how we can serve Him more.

What Greater Portion

"'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.'"
-Lamentations 3:24

What greater portion is there -
than You, Oh God,
My cup overflows with Your grace

How can I get enough of
Your beauty, my LORD
My longing is to gaze on Your face

My hope is in You,
My desire for You,
Lord - in You let me delight

My sacrifice to You is
a broken spirit
May it be pleasing dear Lord, in Your sight.

Lord! I love You!
Increase my love!
Let this heart always be full -

You are the Source
of this love in my heart
Blessed Portion! My Lord, strength of my soul.

His Dwelling Place, Our Longing

"How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God."
-Psalm 84:1-2

"Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for."
-Elisabeth Elliot

No Boundaries

"Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say,
'Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!'"
-Malachi 1:5

Isn't this an encouragement? Great He is... beyond the borders we set for Him! Our Lord cannot be put in a box, His actions can not be predicted, His thoughts not comprehended.
This is why our hearts cry out to know Him more - because He cannot be fathomed. We can constantly come to know more of Him, yet never completely know Him.

So often we thank Him for not answering our prayers according to our original desires, because He came up with an answer that was beyond our imagination! Our minds have borders, our God does not.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
-Ephesians 3:20-21

He is the Gladness of our Rejoicing

"Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God."
-Psalm 43:4

"The final goal of life is not forgiveness or any of God’s good gifts. The final goal of life is God himself, experienced as your exceeding joy. Or very literally from the Hebrew, “God, the gladness of my rejoicing.” That is, God, who in all my rejoicing over all the good things that he had made, is himself, in all my rejoicing, the heart of my joy, the gladness of my joy. Every joy that does not have God as the central gladness of the joy is a hollow joy and in the end will burst like a bubble. "
-John Piper

I love his term, "God, the gladness of my rejoicing." It's beautiful, jubilant, wonderous and mind boggling all at the same time. This God, our God, our Master, our Salvation, our Healer, our Comforter, our Peace, and at the same time our ecstatic joy! What joy there is in serving Him, and simply worshiping at His feet! May He always be your source of joy, and may the gladness of your rejoicing in Him always bubble over!

God bless you. :)

Lo, I Am with You

"Peace, my child, dry your eyes,
Come and rest by My side
Let your burdens take flight from you
All your questions of 'Why'
Just lay them aside
For lo, I am with you

Always I'll be the One there for thee
To guard and to guide
Trust in my ways and there will be a day
When you will know why

Though the way is unclear
And all hopes turn to fears
And you don't know what to do
Lift up your eyes
Fix your gaze on the Light
For lo, I am with you"

-Aaron Hoffman
Misty Hollow Music