Sustained

 

Lately I have been meditating on Psalm 55:22 and I’ve come to realize that I’m not   a very good care caster. Care can come in  many different packages. Simply put, a care by definition is a disquieted state of mixed uncertainty, apprehension, and responsibility. Financial pressure, health concerns, family issues, relationship problems, work stress- these are all cares, and they come to try to get us to focus on them rather than keeping our eyes focused on Jesus. Mark chapter 4 tells us that the care of the world comes to try to choke the Word of God that is sown in our hearts.

I’m more of a fixer, so when care arrives at my front door I try to figure out all the ways to fix things, my mind runs 100 mph, I think of every possible scenario and many times instead of casting the care, I start carrying it. The problem with that is that pretty soon what started out as a little care becomes a heavy burden. My peace gets all messed up, and I become weary. In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus told us when we get weary and heavy laden with cares and burdens to come to him and He will give us rest for our souls.

 

Not only will He give us a place of rest, but the Bible says that if we cast our cares on the Lord that He will sustain us. I looked up what sustain means and found this:

sus·tain  (s-stn) tr.v. sus·tained, sus·tain·ing, sus·tains 1. To keep in existence; maintain. 2. To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for. 3. To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop. 4. To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage. 5. To bear up under; withstand: can’t sustain the blistering heat. 6. To experience or suffer: sustained a fatal injury. 7. To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor’s objection. 8. To prove or corroborate; confirm. 9. To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

When we cast our care upon Him, our heavenly Father promises to provide for us, support us, keep us from falling, affirm us, encourage us and keep us in existence! We will be sustained by the One who promises a place of peace that passes all understanding, and joy unspeakable and full of glory! I don’t know about you, but that makes me happy! Today I choose to refuse the care that comes to try to burden me and instead cast it on the Lord, how about you?

 

 

A Merry Heart

Proverbs 17:22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones
 
A happy heart works healing, or as it says in the King James doeth good like a medicine. I have been meditating on this scripture for the past week or so and I have noticed myself feeling happier than normal. I’m generally a pretty positive person, but telling myself every day-“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” has increased my awareness of keeping my heart happy. When you’re happy, you feel better physically, emotionally, and mentally. I was thinking the other day how it’s the littlest things in life that make me happy. When we’re cheerful, positive and in a good mood not only will we notice the little things, we will really appreciate them. On the other hand, if we let the pressure of life get to us, and we’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, we probably couldn’t even find joy in the big things let alone the small things. In Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and some of the other leaders of Israel told the people ….for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. The joy of the Lord is our strength. That joy is what allows us to walk through pressure and trials with a song in our hearts and a praise on our lips. That joy is what keeps our hearts happy and our minds cheerful.
 
How can we find that joy, and once we find it how can we keep it? Philippians 4:4 says Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! Here we see that we are to be delight ourselves in the Lord always. Not when things are going great, not when things are going bad, not when things are just alright- always. Every moment of every day we should be finding happiness and joy from being in the presence of the Lord. The more time we spend with Him, the more we will enjoy His presence. When we learn to enjoy His presence, the joy we find from spending time with Him will last us throughout the day. Enjoying the Lord and delighting in his Word will keep us filled with the joy of the Lord. The benefits from delighting in the Lord are more than just physical. Psalm 1:2-3 tells us 2But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. 3And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].