“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in itâ€
(Psalm 118:24, NIV)
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in itâ€
(Psalm 118:24, NIV)
thedailylily.com 
“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joyâ€
(1 Peter 1:8, NIV)
How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. (Psalm 36: 7)
“The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145: 9 NKJ) The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” (Psalm 145: 17, 18 NKJ)
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord. My heart yearns for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul cry out for the living God! You are my Lord and my God.” (Psalm 84:1-2)
“I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. (Then)
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”
Song of Solomon
Barnes Notes: This is the day which the Lord hath made – As if it were a new day, made for this very occasion; a day which the writer of the psalm did not expect to see, and which seemed therefore to have been created out of the ordinary course, and added to the other days. He was in danger of death; his days were likely to be cut off and ended, so that he should see no more. But God had spared him, and added this joyous day to his life; and it was meet that for this he should be praised. It was so full of joy, so unexpected, so bright, so cheerful, that it appeared to be a new day coming fresh from the hand of the Almighty, unlike the other days of the year. So the Sabbath – the day that commemorates the resurrection of the Redeemer”
Have you heard, “History belongs in the past.” Reading the notes given by Barnes on Psalm 118, makes me think today it’s not about what almost got you down yesterday but what God did and on top of what He did yesterday to save your skin He gave you a new day to tell about it by rejoicing and telling others the Victory!
YAY! What kinds of things are you doing today because God save your skin from yesterday?
“What kinds of things are you doing today because God save your skin from yesterday?” Philippians 3: 13, came to my mind, when I read your question, but I will include verses 12 – 14. “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Read with me the footnotes for verse 12 – 14: “Paul said that his goal was to know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all Christ had in mind for him. This goal took all of Paul’s energies. This is a helpful example for us. We should not let anything take our eyes off our goal–knowing Christ. With the single-mindedness of an athlete in training, we must lay aside everything harmful and forsake anything that may distract us from being effective Christians. What is holding you back?”
Sara asks, ‘”what am I doing today because God saved my skin yesterday”?
Scheduling our music (curriculum) program and the performances gets very touchy every year with everyone jockeying for a space and a place. We all teach the same children and we want EVERYTHING for those students….and I mean EVERYTHING. We want them to have all of all we teachers, programmers, administration, etc can present to them. Sometimes, someone has to “give’ or should I say ‘give up’ or give in a little. Yesterday, I would have been ready to take my stand in a certain case where I had stood my ground for the last couple of years.
Bu,t GOD! Here’s the best part….In reading Romans this morning in my prayer time (by the way Gary is doing a deep-seated teaching on the book of Romans and Sara is presenting the life application of Romans) I got to read and hear Romans 13 which starts out as (paraphrased):” Let every person be loyally SUBJECT to authorities for that is what God as appointed and arranged for me. And if I resist will bring down judgment upon myself in the eyes of God.
Don’t resist their directives for this is where God has placed me at this time and it is in His divine order. I should not resist the divine appointments of those the Lord puts over me for order and honor.” I had read that before. I knew the principle of the Words that Paul wrote. BUT…
Well, little did I know that a few hours later, I WAS confronted by my superior and was given a directive to which, in my estimation, I have not agreed with concerning my program…BUT I DID REMEMBER THE WORD of God in Romans. As the supervisor spoke, those Scriptures were going thru my head. I gently acquiesced and consented to do what was asked of me….giving up and giving in but there was such a peace of God when it happened that even the supervisor was disarmed. God saved my skin with His perfect, precious Word.
The Word of God keeps your SKIN soft and supple and your heart, too.
Oh thank You Lord and Father of Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit.
This is an old saying but Needles’ Scripture reading made me think of it
Yesterday’s history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” I know everybody knows this but it does have special meaning because the PRESENCE in the PRESENT is JESUS CHRIST. that’s way “this is the day that the Lord has made”
Thanking Him and seeking ways to show appreciation to Him in service are some things to do with the new day God gives us. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.” (Psalm 92:1-3 NLT)
Yhou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
“Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He has set a table before me in the presence of my enemies” Ps 23
Needles wrote that Paul’s goal was to “know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all Christ had in mind for him”. One thing Paul must have learned to do because he instructed us to do it (I Thess 5:16) was to “Rejoice always”. He experienced many different things in his ‘day’ when I read 2 Cor 6:4-10, including much difficulty, but nothing seemed to alter or affect his rejoicing.
There is reason to be joyful about “today” while it is still today because Peter writes in 1Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”
And in Psalm 57:22 it says, “Turn your burdens over to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will never let the righteous person stumble.”
What a great comfort that is to know that in the things the Lord has given us to do, our assigned ‘lot’, He will sustain us and give us strength to do it. He would NOT give us something He knows we CANNOT do. Maybe some ‘WON’T’ do it because they are too lazy or lack the faith, but what the Lord gives to do He supports us in it.
That is a wonderful thing to remember when the going gets rough, that He supports and sustains us if we remain diligent and persevere. Our Lord has provided for each of us exactly what we can do and we have HIS strengthening to do it. In that we can truly REJOICE.
MG,
Thank you, for this encouraging scripture, I soooo needed it! I recently read something on a church sign, and I’d like to share here: “Life without God’s spirit is like trying to dribble a football.”
You’re right, Needles. To play the game (0f life) well and correctly, we have to know the rules and we have to have the tools. God gives us the tools in His Word. If we use the wrong “ball” we might just “dribble” thru life instead of SCORING and gaining GOALS. God gives the victory as in: “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It’s like a fragrance that fills the air.
But we’ve GOT to participate in the ‘game’. (2Cor. 2:14)
Thanks, Needles for a GOOD lead!!
Maybe ‘trying to dribble a football’ means one is in the wrong game. We sure are not playing for team! Or, drama addicts at their highest!
That’s good, Sara. Maybe some are trying to play in the wrong game. Paul said, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors., shepherds and teachers”. (Eph. 4:11)
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy,then prophesy according to the proportion of his faith; if teaching then teach; if helps or being a helper, then help with all your heart, watching your attitude at all times… etc.” (Romans 12:6)
We must not try to take someone else’s position in the “game”…the Church of Jesus Christ. We may just foul out
Yay MG…..seems to be part of the addiction to play, pray, and pose in the wrong post.
God has promised us joy when we are in His presence. If Jesus is our Lord and Savior, then His presence lives right inside of us! Joy comes in waves when we focus our hearts and minds on Our Heavenly Father! If we are focusing on trying to play, pray and pose on the wrong field of life it might be hard to rejoice in a day make by God Himself.
“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyesâ€
(Psalm 19:8, NIV)