My Heart Leaps With Joy!

Psalm 28: ⁶ Praise be to the Lord,

    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

⁸ The Lord is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
⁹ Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.

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My heart is filled with joy as we approach the weekend where we celebrate the most significant murder on the planet. I can only imagine how HE felt as HE reached out to us and we misinterpreted HIS kindness because of our false view of who and what GOD “should” be.

• JESUS extended a hand to me and I misinterpreted it for punishment.
• JESUS tried to wipe away a tear from my face and I misinterpreted it for a slap.
• JESUS attempted to tell me “Have Courage” and “Do not be afraid” and I went away cowering even more!

It seems like this JESUS fellow messed up quite a bit. HE was misunderstood, lied on and beaten until the crowd got worked up into a frenzy to have HIM murdered. Then I looked at my blunders throughout life and nothing compares to HIS. HE said HE was GOD and the staunch church goers, who had specific ways GOD should act in their minds, killed HIM. Wow! JESUS must have been crazy to call HIMSELF GOD!

• But on Sunday JESUS rose from the dead just for me.
• But on Sunday JESUS got up from the grave and had all power and saved me.
• But on Sunday JESUS showed everyone HE is GOD and HE is alive!

Just because I look crazy sometimes or am embarrassed sometimes or fail sometimes doesn’t mean JESUS is out to get me or take me down! Quite the opposite, HE became a human to shoe me HE loves me and that even HE would be misunderstood. “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” was and is HE plea to the FATHER for me.

• Are you ready to praise GOD for being there for you?
• Can you stop misinterpreting what GOD is taking you through and praise HIM!
• Will you begin filling your heart with joy by praising HIM today!

True Leadership

2 Samuel 23: ² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
    his word was on my tongue.
³ The God of Israel spoke,
    the Rock of Israel said to me:
‘When one rules over people in righteousness,
    when he rules in the fear of God,
⁴ he is like the light of morning at sunrise
    on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
    that brings grass from the earth.’

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Fearing GOD is the mark of a true leader. This person will base major decisions on what GOD wants rather than on men’s desires. For me this means I shouldn’t look at what another leader is doing and point fingers at that person. I need to ask myself, “Am I following what GOD wants?”

JESUS showed HIMSELF to be a true leader on this very day. HE volunteered to take the horrible consequence of mankind’s sin. We have no idea what this means, only that it happened. HIS leadership example shows HE was the ultimate servant.

• JESUS was direct yet humble.
• JESUS was powerful yet frail.
• JESUS was killed yet raised to life.

HE is the mark of a true leader.

• Where are you putting your trust?
• Do you have faulty belief in GOD?
• Do you believe JESUS was raised from the dead and is now placed above everything?
• Can you see that HE loves you and wants a relationship with you?