The Lord's Great Delight

by Suzie Johnson

"And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" ~ Matthew 3:17

Most, if not all of us reading this blog, long to please the Lord in some way. I know I do. Fortunately, since I tend to fail a lot, I’m covered by His grace.

courtesy of thebiblerevival.com

I have this long standing image of the Lord holding out His arms, face beaming, as He says words similar to those same ones He spoke over Jesus when he was baptized in the Jordan River, "You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

The very thought fills my entire being with a warm glow and I feel incredibly loved.

I don’t think I’ve ever shared this with anyone, not even my sister. But somehow she must have known because she sent me a card this week with an unfamiliar scripture on the front. I may have read it before and stored it in my subconscious, but I can’t be sure. I do wonder though, if this is where I came by my initial image of God being pleased with me.

"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." ~ Zephaniah 3:17

courtesy of thebiblerevival.com 

I never imagined God taking delight in me. Pleased, yes, but taking that concept deeper to Him taking great delight in me – it’s a new thought for me. Even more so, the image of Him singing over me with joy, gives me a sense of gladness so deep down in my soul, I can barely express what I’m feeling.

Music has always drawn me close to the Lord. This fact and the timing of my sister choosing a card with this scripture has reminded me that God’s timing is perfection. That she sent me this scripture at this particular time – God must have been sitting on her shoulder while she looked at cards and nudged her toward this one. My desire to give my best in whatever I do has been renewed because of it. (Thank you, Pam!)

I now have a burning desire to attain the utmost in this scripture – the part where not only is God delighting in me, He’s singing over me with joy!

What images do you hold onto of God?
Did they come from scriptures you read, or from something you were taught?

People Watching and Spiritual Truths

"But God shows his love for us in that we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~Romans 5:8

I love watching people enjoy themselves, and often wonder what is going through their mind as they’re doing whatever it is they’re doing. I don’t know if other people do this, and sometimes I just have to wonder about myself. But perhaps that’s part of being a writer. I certainly get some good material from people-watching. And sometimes I even learn some valuable spiritual truths.

One day not long ago, I was standing behind two guys at the bank. I’m ashamed to admit I noticed right away that one or both of them didn’t smell very good. While they were talking together, the one closest to me received a phone call. He stepped out of the line, and I glanced at the guy who was now directly in front of me. I could still smell him, and it was almost overpowering. I put my hand up to my face, upset with myself as I tried to inconspicuously cover my nose.

As I watched him, I noticed two contrasting things. His ragged clothes were as filthy dirty as the rest of him, and the smile on his face radiated joy. Pure joy. It beamed from his eyes as well, and I stopped noticing the smell and wondered what he was thinking. He obviously had just finished doing some kind of manual labor. He must have been exhausted. In one dirty hand, he clutched a check. Was he thinking about buying something with his check? Getting home to his wife and kids? Watching a baseball game?

Or had something wonderful happened to him that day to fill him? And I do believe he was filled. No one can fake a smile that generates from your soul. I felt a tug at my heart, and at the same time, I had a flash of a thought. A basic thought that we all know and many of us learned as tiny children. Jesus loves us all. No matter what we look like, no matter the clothes we wear or how clean we are.

http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/Picture.htm

"By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." ~John 13:35

It doesn’t matter if we’re dirty, if we smell bad, wear rags, or even if we stand in line trying not to breathe because someone smells bad. He loves each one of us the same. I felt so unworthy at that moment, and yet blessed at the same time. I praised God for his profound love and forgiveness, and asked him to grant me some of that forgiveness for my initial thoughts toward the man in front of me. Then I prayed for the man, too, that he would continue to know joy each and every day. If he doesn’t know God now, I pray that one day soon he will.

"And above all of these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." ~Colossians 3:14