Desire and Delight

Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and he will. Your innocence will be clear to everyone. He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:4-6)

A heart's desires can be many - no doubt your desires differ from mine, but if we were to list them all, our lists would be long! I desire for my children to know and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. My delight will be to see my two grandsons to grow up to be morally strong, obedient to the commandments of Christ, and to trust him fully with the control of their lives. My desire to see both my children and grandchildren realize their dreams burns deeply with. I desire health, so I do what I can to preserve it wherever possible. I delight in time in the Word of God, good worship music, and the freedom to share my heart in open communion with my Lord. A heart's desires and delights - many though they may be, the one that is most important is the one that leads us to the commitment to do all the Lord desires.

According to the seed sown shall be the harvest reaped. We sow seeds that are a result of our desires - desire the good and the seed will be good; desire the unholy or impure and you know the harvest will be filled with all manner of 'weeds and tares'. I learned that the wheat seed and tare seed are very similar, producing a plant that almost looks the same in the earliest part of their growth. When you begin to see the difference is when the fruit is being produced. The seed of the wheat plant is brown, while that of the tare is purple with a black seed. While the wheat seed is good for consumption, the seed of the tare is actually poisonous, containing a soporific poison. I wouldn't want a diet of tares, would you?

Desire functions as the seed for many an action in our lives. Perhaps this is why God reminds us to examine our desires - for our desires often reflect our delight. What is it you find your greatest pleasure in? Maybe the better question is 'who' is it you find your greatest pleasure in? A boyfriend and girlfriend, captivated by young love may immediately say it is the one they are in relationship with. A father of a newborn may be absolutely delighted in the new life he holds in his arms, but his delight in his wife may actually become more profound as he observes her take such good care of that new life. A man or woman who has asked Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, finding unending and unconditional grace at the foot of the cross, may actually find their greatest delight in him. 

Desire and delight go hand in hand. One leads to the other. We desire more of Christ and are delighted to find him in the stillness of our time with him. We desire to understand his ways and are delighted to see his hand in action in so many ways around us. We desire to fully grasp a teaching from his Word and are delighted to find those words come to life in us as we are faced with a challenge too great for our human wisdom. Desire leads to delight - delight leads us to the feet of Jesus. What desire is the greatest in your life today? If it is anything other than Christ and his goodness, perhaps it is time to take a break from whatever stands in the way of us finding our greatest delight in his presence. Just sayin!

Treasure it

But he knows where I am and what I’ve done. He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors. I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints, not once swerving from his way. I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken, and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it. (Job 23:10-12)

Devotion is the character trait which really cannot be "seen" in the way we dress, what we drive, or the things we amass around us. It is "seen" more in the people we hang around with, the way we spend our time, and the attitude of heart which is exhibited in the actions we take toward others. Devotion is just a synonym for love, evident in where we find our foundation for life, who it is we emulate in our actions, and what it is we commit to without wavering. Devotion also determines our delight - there is very little in which we take delight that does not first begin with an appeal to our hearts. Throughout scripture, devotion is linked with determination - for what we come to value we develop a strong determination to obtain and make our own. God is always searching for even the smallest hint of us being willing to align with his heart. When he sees this tiny bud of devotion, he begins to nurture it until it becomes a fully adorned "tree" of dedication - anchored with three strongly attached roots of commitment, allegiance, and loyalty.

When our roots are solid, the growth produced and the ability to withstand the various influences which seek to uproot us are evident. If we "align" ourselves within "good soil", the chances of giving into every wind of change which comes across our lives is a little less likely. We will remain securely rooted in that which gives us "grounding". Even a tree firmly rooted will begin to grow "toward" the most influential "winds" in their life. This is where we need the "winds of devotion" to blow stronger than any other wind which might seek to change the course of our growth. One thing which consistently catches my attention is the way trees grow in various regions. Trees often give into the "prevailing" winds in their lives. Devotion occurs when we determine which "wind" we will accept as "prevailing" in our lives. We can give into the winds of the times, or even the winds of circumstance. Nothing makes us grow as strong, tall, and "equally balanced" as the gentle breezes of the Holy Spirit in our lives! When we are determined to grow, not toward the "loudest" winds, but toward the gentle breath of God, we have a much more balanced growth!

It is really the heart of God that each of us "delight" in the tender care of his watchful "gardening" of our lives. We need those withered "branches" lopped off - for they only take up space, hindering other growth from appearing. We need the soil "turned over" on occasion, because we only get new growth when the soil of our hearts finds new "oxygenation" on occasion! Delight is really a result of our determination and our devotion. I guess you sum all three of these into one word - desire! Job said it well, "I have not just obeyed his advice - I've enjoyed it - treasured it!" He had made a determination to make God his primary desire! He delighted in the counsel of God - determined to have it affect his course. He had devoted himself to God's plans - no matter how difficult they may have seemed at the moment (and heaven knows Job faced many a tough blow in life). He made no attempt to remove himself from being aligned with God's best - no matter that "all hell was breaking loose" around him. He was devoted, determined, and he took great delight in the things and choices which pleased the one he had the greatest desire to please - not himself, not his peers, but God! Now, that is something which "tickles" the heart of God! Just sayin!

Find your delight

Find your delight in the Lord. Then he will give you everything your heart really wants. 

(Psalm 37:4)

Do you know how this psalm begins? David begins by telling us to stop being upset because of sinful people and to stop being jealous of all those around us who are doing wrong. Do you ever find yourself caught up in the moments of comparison where you actually begin to bemoan the fact the ones doing wrong around you seem to prosper and you are just struggling to make it through? I think this can be more commonplace than we might first believe. It is hard to see people behaving poorly and seeming to just slide on by without anyone calling them on their behavior. It is hard to observe injustices overlooked. The instruction is quite simple - stop dwelling on their 'good fortune' in the midst of some pretty poorly made choices on their part. Why? The answer is found in the next verse - "Like grass, they will soon dry up. Like green plants, they will soon die." Our response should be to "trust in the Lord and do good". In the face of their evil, do good. In the midst of their hurtful behavior, do good. In the moments when things seem to be going from bad to worse, do good.

How do we 'do good' when all around us is something quite the opposite? The answer is found in David's next instruction to us - find your delight in the Lord! When we find our delight in the Lord, we don't have time, nor interest in focusing on how 'well' the sinful are doing. Instead, we find ways of binding up the wounds of those they are continually offending! Did you realize one of the primary definitions of 'delight' is to be content? Contentment doesn't come in what we see or feel as much as it comes in what we know about who is in control of the circumstances. We find pleasure in getting close to God and then we find ways to invite others into that place of closeness, thereby countering the evil done around us. We aren't getting upset - we aren't even getting even - we are rising above. God's 'ask' isn't that we just sit idly by, but rather that we find ways to turn the eyes around us toward him.

Please don't get me wrong when I share this, but I observed a man on a street corner this past weekend with a great deal of misguided passion. You see, he was attempting to 'preach' from the street corner at the local Farmer's Market, but instead of turning eyes toward heaven, he was hurling insults that weren't taken very well by those in hearing range. He actually called those of us in the crowd 'gomers' because we have been 'duped' by lies, but by referring to the crowd as inept or stupid, he was 'souring' them on ever hearing the message he desired to deliver. I am not a huge fan of 'doomsday' preaching from the street corners anyway, but this type of preaching only gives Christians a bad rap. Why? The words are hurtful, not helpful. God's greatest joy comes in seeing a life changed, lived out in beauty and grace. His hope is that we learn to share that beauty and grace with others in a way that helps them to realize they can 'rise above' this world's evil and hurtfulness, as well. Just sayin!

Not another sock day

We have all probably heard the saying, "If you cannot laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at." Well, some days I just do a lot more laughing than others! We should laugh - if not that good belly laugh that releases all those happy feelings - then at least a little chuckle now and again to remind us we are all human and all do some kinda dumb stuff! I don't laugh 'at' people, but because we ALL are people, suffering from similar inconsistencies in our lives, and we just do 'funny stuff' from time to time. You know what . . . life gets pretty doggone hard at times and if we could not laugh or celebrate from time to time, it would be pretty hard to get through!

I inherited your book on living; it's mine forever—what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—I always have and always will. (Psalm 119:111-112)

I always loved watching my children and now my grandchildren opening their gifts on Christmas morning. I observed their expressions with each gift - was it the thing they had hoped for, or the gift that kind of brought a little let down (like new undies or socks). You know what - there are times in life where our face says it all! The moments of delight or disappointment are written across the expanse of our face, our eyes betraying our real feelings. I remember one Christmas with my grandson. The first thing he removed from the box I had prepared for him was socks! Imagine his look - disappointment was spelled out on every inch of that wee face! Not the gift he really expected - nor the one he probably wanted! Then he reached in for the next thing....more socks! What he did not understand was that I had used the socks to "fill in" the two very much hoped for toys underneath those socks in order to keep them from rattling all around in the box! When he finally found those - the laughter came!

Sometimes God is like that, packing really desirable things with some pretty "regular" stuff - we just have to dig a little deeper to find the really desirable things he puts a little deeper into the box we call everyday life! When we finally "hit upon" the desirable in the midst of the regular, our interpretation of the "gift" changes, doesn't it? It went from being a 'so-so' gift to being a real 'awesome' one! I think this is what David might have had in mind when he penned these words: "I inherited your book on living; it's mine forever—what a gift!" I am sure David had to "weed through" a few "ordinary" church services, routine studying of the Word, determined listening to preachers explain the passages, and then as if by some miracle, there it was - the "desired" gift! He was weeding through the ordinary until he found the desirable!

In those moments, laughter brought lightness to his heart, even in the midst of some of the greatest trials. When God reveals himself, the heart's response is gladness. We cannot but smile, even laugh a little, whenever our heart is made light in a dark time! Imagine God's Word as a gift, beautifully wrapped, carefully "packaged" so as much content "fits" into it as possible. Sometimes our study will be like "sock" discovery days - good to have, but not really something that "wows" us. At others, our study uncovers something in which we will take great delight - enjoying it over and over again until we almost are worn out in the revelry of the gift! So, get into it, dig deeper - you may never know what there is to discover there! Just sayin!

Laugh a little - it couldn't hurt!

Back in the day I used to love to read the Reader's Digest little quips called "Laughter is the Best Medicine".  The short stories would make me chuckle and even evoke a smile from deep within.  In essence, the writers of the short one page segment in the magazine were trying to get across this idea of a cheerful heart going a long way toward changing our disposition toward things in life.  Laugh a little and the world might seem a little less challenging.  Learn to laugh at yourself and you won't be tempted to take yourself too seriously.  I don't know if the articles still run in the magazine, but I know how much joy they brought me each month as I'd read this one and "Humor in Uniform".  Those short jokes and funny stories might have been simple and kind of cheesy on occasion, but they accomplished their mission - they made us laugh!  E.E. Cummings once said, "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  Milton Berle said, "Laughter is an instant vacation."  Maybe we need a little more cheer in our lives and a little less seriousness - because most of us take life way too seriously more than we'd like to admit!

Being cheerful helps when we are sick, but nothing helps when we give up. (Proverbs 18:14 CEV)

I often know when a patient is going to do well in their fight against a disease or confounding illness of some sort - because I see it in their determination and drive to be well.  There is something inside of them which drives them and gives them the desire to fight often in spite of the odds.  Nothing helps when we give up - a positive attitude can determine the course of our destiny in life.  I think this may be what our writer had in mind when he penned these words.  They are simple, yet profound - attitude matters!  What we believe in our heart influences what we do in our actions - where our attitude peaks or wanes will be the highest and lowest spots in our day.

My mom suffers from a crippling spinal condition called spinal stenosis.  Add to this the advancing of her years and the onset of arthritic changes and osteoporosis and the pain can sometimes be way more than she wants to deal with.  She used to stand a proud 5 foot 5 inches tall.  Today, if she can possibly hold herself erect long enough to measure a full 5 foot 10 inches she'd be lucky.  Her spine has curved to where she no longer sits upright, but constantly leans to the left.  The curvature in her spine and neck are never so evident as when she is stooped over walking around the house.  

She sometimes struggles to rise from the sofa or chair, finding herself rising, losing her balance and plopping back down again.  The feeling in her legs has been affected by the crushing effect of her disease on the nerves of her spine.  Yet, despite her pain, she plods on. Why?  She isn't willing to give up!  She doesn't want to be crippled - she wants to be independent, functional, and able to do whatever she can in the course of her day.  Nothing speaks louder to me than her determination to "motor on" in the face of tremendous obstacles which would want to stop her in her tracks.  They disable her, but they don't disengage her from life!

I often hear her laugh at herself when she topples back, catches her foot on the carpet when she tries to take a step forward, or simply has to stand for a while getting her balance and "umph" back which will help her take the first step forward.  She'll make some quip if she stumbles a little such as, "Well, I shouldn't have had that last drink", then motor on, chuckling to herself.  She doesn't touch the stuff, but she will joke about her "instability" on her feet as though she had been tipping back the bottle a little too much!  It makes us all chuckle when we hear her say something like this because we know it is just a little humor to deal with the fear she has of falling and the challenges she faces because her body is failing.

We ALL face challenges in life - some more difficult than others.  We ALL have two choices - give into the pressures and pain, or motor on.  The choice we make in the attitude we will maintain toward the difficulties in front of us often determine if those difficulties will be our means to better ourselves, or the end of the fight for us.  There is such power in our attitude, especially when it comes to the changes God wants to create within our lives.  The changes are hard and the work is sometimes challenging, but the reward is great.  Let's remember to laugh a little, not taking things more seriously than we ought, and then to "motor on" in the face of the difficulties we face.  We might just find ourselves enjoying our journey a little more when we do!  Just sayin!

Devotion, Determination and Delight

Devotion is one character trait which really cannot be "seen" in the way we dress, what we drive, or the things we amass.  In fact, it is "seen" more in the people we hang around with, the way we spend our time, and the attitude of heart which is exhibited in the actions we take toward others.  If you really stop to consider it, devotion is just a synonym of love.  Devotion is evident in where we find our foundation for life, who it is we emulate in our actions, and what it is we commit to without wavering.  Devotion also determines our delight - there is very little in which we take delight that does not first begin with an appeal to our hearts.  Devotion then is linked with determination - for what we come to value we develop a strong determination to obtain and make out own.

But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.  He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.  I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints, not once swerving from his way.  I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken, and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.  (Job 23:10-12 MSG)

So, our "D" List of character traits are really threefold:  Devotion, Delight, and Determination.  For some, the word devotion conjures up the idea of profound dedication.  This is not far off the mark of what I think God has in mind when he looks for this trait in us - he searches for even a small hint of us being willing to align with his heart.  When he sees this tiny bud of devotion, he begins to nurture it until it becomes a fully adorned "tree" of dedication - anchored with three strongly attached roots of commitment, allegiance, and loyalty.  

When our roots are solid, the growth produced and the ability to withstand the various influences which seek to uproot us are evident.  If we "align" ourselves within "good soil", the chances of giving into every wind of change which comes across our lives is a little less likely.  Instead, we will remain securely rooted in that which gives us "grounding".  Yet, even a tree firmly rooted will begin to grow "toward" the most influential "winds" in their life.  This is where we need the "winds of devotion" to blow stronger than any other wind which might seek to change the course of our growth.  

As I travel, I have the delight of taking in much scenery.  One thing which consistently catches my attention is the way trees grow in various regions.  As I traveled near the beaches of Torrey Pines near San Diego, California, I noticed these "spindly" looking pines, almost "lopsided" in their growth.  You see, they were affected by the strong winds which came off the ocean, directing their growth inward toward the land and almost making them devoid of growth on the side which faced the ocean.  I have also observed this in some regions where strong winds have blown the birch trees, such as in Birch Bay, Washington.  The birch are tall and straight, but devoid of limbs on one side of the tree.  Why is it these two different trees grew this way?  They gave into the "prevailing" winds in their lives.  

Devotion occurs when we determine which "wind" we will accept as "prevailing" in our lives.  We can give into the winds of the times, or even the winds of circumstance.  Yet, nothing makes us grow as strong, tall, and "equally balanced" as the gentle breezes of the Holy Spirit in our lives!  When we are determined to grow, not toward the "loudest" winds, but toward the gentle breath of God, we have a much more balanced growth!

As a tree takes root, the promised growth is dependent upon what care it receives in its "growth cycle".  This is where delight comes into view - for it is the heart of God that each of us "delight" in the tender care of his watchful "gardening" of our lives.  We need those withered "branches" lopped off - for they only take up space, hindering other growth from appearing.  We need the soil "turned over" on occasion, because we only get new growth when the soil of our hearts find new "oxygenation" on occasion!  Delight is an off-shoot of our determination and our devotion.  I guess you sum all three of these into one word - desire!  

Job said it well, "I have not just obeyed his advice - I've enjoyed it!"  Why?  Simply put - he has made a determination to make God his primary desire!  He delights in the counsel of God - determined to have it affect his course.  He has devoted himself to God's plans - no matter how difficult they may seem at the moment (and heaven knows Job faced many a tough blow in life).  He makes no attempt to remove himself from being aligned with God's best - no matter how much it appears on the outside as though "all hell is breaking loose".  He is devoted, determined, and he takes great delight in the things and choices which please the one he has the greatest desire to please - not himself, not his peers, but God!  Now, that is something which "tickles" the heart of God!  Just sayin!