Psalm 23:3 Getting Restored

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:3

Busyness is something that most people have on a daily basis. People have a laundry list of things that they have to do that appears to be a mile long and can never be accomplished and always appears to be getting longer and longer. As they face this list of things to be done, many get very weary and worn out, both physically and mentally. People then look to more things to restore their energy to keep going.

David states that God restores his soul while leading him into paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

During times that people are worn out, many will look to doing things that are fun or eating or drinking something in an attempt to restore themselves from the depression that many have fallen into from their weariness. These are very short temporary fixes that do not really change their spirit. Often, they will lead to more problems or greater difficulties.

Hiding behind things does not restore a person but increases their weariness. Believers will often fall into this same trap in their own lives looking for strength and restoration in this world and get weary and worn out.

Instead of turning towards the things of this world, believers need to turn to God. As one chooses to allow God to lead, one will be restored in mind, body and soul.

God knows when a person needs to slow down and maybe rest for a moment. He will lead the believer in the correct path to be able to keep going, restoring the soul. In God’s presence all the problems and cares of this world fade away, renewing the soul with joy and peace that the world cannot supply.

If you are like most people, you probably have days in which you feel worn out and depressed. You want to find the strength and energy to keep moving forward and always want to make the right choices.

Focus your life upon God. Spend time in His word and in prayer, talking to Him. Seek God and what He would have you do or not do. God will restore your soul to give you the strength and joy needed to continue on the path that He has you on.

Allow God to lead and restore your soul.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will seek God at all times; that you will allow God to lead you in His path of righteousness; and that God will restore your soul.

Picture by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

Proverbs 23:4 Chasing Wealth

Worn out working

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Proverbs 23:4 

Striving to gain wealth is the desire of many people. Many people are willing to try to do anything and everything to get wealthy. Most want to find an easy way to gain extreme wealth. They want more for less.

Some people will search the internet to find ways to gain wealth in a fast way. Some of these ways may be legitimate, while many are just scams to make someone else wealthy.

Others will work hard at their job, fighting to climb the ladder of position and pay. They will work several jobs or extreme long hours just to make a few dollars more.

However, gaining this wealth can be lost in a matter of moments very easily. Sickness or disaster will drain the wealth. The economy drops causing a loss in value.

Solomon, being the wealthiest man who ever lived, warned to not wear oneself out to gain wealth. He even adds that a person should not trust his own cleverness to gain that wealth.

A person may be wise enough to gain some wealth, but in the end it costs him much more. It costs health, family, position, marriage, integrity, and much more.

When a person is so focused on gaining wealth, he will often forget those around him and he will forget about God. Everything else gets put on the back burner at an expense to his life and wealth.

Real wealth is not found in the temporary material things of this world. Gaining all the money in the world will never save a soul. It will not put one in a better position with God.

The focus of the life of a believer should be on becoming more like Jesus and making more disciples of Jesus. Gaining wealth should be one of the least concerns of a believer.

Take a look at your life and see what you are working at getting or doing. How much time and effort are you working at gaining wealth? Now compare that to how much time and effort are you working at becoming like Jesus and making disciples?

One will gain you, maybe, some temporary pleasure, but many troubles. The other will gain you eternal life, joy,  and peace.

Focus your efforts and energy on what is of lasting value, rather than the temporary losses of this world.

I pray today that you will work hard at living for God; that you will make every effort to make disciples of Jesus; that God will provide for your every need in abundance; and that God will protect you from being led astray towards temporary wealth. 

Psalm 6:6 Crying Out To God

Weeping Willow

I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. Psalm 6:6 

Seeking help sometimes takes time and a lot of effort. It is not always an easy path to getting much needed help.

There are people who are in need of government assistance that attempt to get some help. In order to attempt to qualify for the help, one must fill out dozens of pages of information, plus provide proof for all of that information. All this is done so that, maybe, he might get some needed assistance. During the process of filling out all the required paperwork, there is often a lot of groaning and tears, with fear of rejection.

David had been crying out to God about some situation in his life. He had been seeking God all night long for deliverance from his enemies. He had become weak from all the groaning and praying he had been doing. In the end, God hears his prayer and answers him.

The prayers of many people are very short quick prayers. They quickly ask God for something, then move on with life. This is often done, because one is so busy with life that he does not stop and take time to communicate with God more than a short tweet.

Although God does hear each and every short prayer, there are times He wants one to really cry out for help. Jesus was perfect, yet, He spent a lot of time praying to the Father. He spent whole nights in travailing prayer to the Father.

Some think that this is just a lack of faith to pray for a longer period of time for one thing, but this can be a show of determination to get God’s attention. It is reaching out until one gets the needed answer.

There will be times in your life when you are going through a tough time. The spiritual enemies in this world will be attacking you and you need relief. Take time to pray to God for the answer.

Do not just do a fast food take out prayer with God, but spend time in prayer seeking His mercy in your life. Do not be afraid of spending hours seeking His assistance.

It can be that God is wanting to see how much you need Him, how much you want the answer. Be willing to cry out to God and keep crying out to get an answer. He will answer in His time.

I pray today that you will know God’s voice; that you will seek God for help in every area of your life; that you will take time to pray to God; and that you will know God’s mercy in your life.