“Listen to my testimony: I cried to God in my distress and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears! Gaze upon Him, join your life with His, and joy will come. Your faces will glisten with glory. You’ll never wear that shame-face again. When I had nothing, desperate and defeated, I cried out to the Lord and He heard me, bringing His miracle-deliverance when I needed it most” (Psalm 34:4-6)

Afraid? Cry out to the Lord. The Lord surely hears. “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1). The psalmist said God FREED him from ALL his fears. That’s a great work of God's deliverance. He doesn’t want anyone to be afraid. His perfect love is effective to drive out every fear (1 John 4:18). Praise the Lord! The turning point for the psalmist is seen in two decisive dispositions. Firstly, “Gaze upon Him.” Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us saying: “We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection.” That’s our gaze: JESUS. He never failed, but succeeded 100%. Secondly, “Join your life with His.” Jesus said: “I am the sprouting vine and you’re My branches. As you live in union with Me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you” (John 15:5). The result of these: “Joy will come” sings the psalmist. Hebrews 12:3 says Jesus’s heart was “focused on the joy of knowing that you would be His.”

Joy comes! His coming joy will remove every shame. May we look and be joined to Him who’s now seated in glory! Amen.

#goodmorning

BeEncouraged❤ Freely received. Freely shared