Psalm

Union between the vine and the branches 

God created our souls’ longing to unite with God.  We are created for connection with our Creator. Our deepest longing is union with God. 

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  Our entire being, soul and worth are intertwined with our Father God.

Psalm 84:2  “My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”  Our longing to be with God comes from God.  Our lives cry out for connection. 

Let us deeply desire the lifeblood of Christ to flow through the veins of the vine of God to extend to us, the branches, His creation. We long for this living, oxygenating, loving, and true union with God!  

Photo: California

  

Sustaining Spirit 

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Thank you, Father, for creating our hearts to be pure, our spirits to be steadfast, our joy to be constantly restored, and our lives to be sustained by your Spirit’s power who raised Jesus from the dead. By Your resurrection power, our hearts are cleansed, our minds are renewed, our joy is made complete, our perseverance is perfected, and our lives are saved!  We relinquish our spirits to you for forgiveness, wholeness, and steadfastness. You sustain us by your power and love. We praise you! Amen. 

Photo: Barcelona, Spain

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Hopeful Waiting

Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”

God is instructing us to wait for Him, to be still before our almighty God, to hope in Him alone. When we fixate on others’ wrongdoing, our focus is shifted from hopeful waiting to anxious fretting. When we perceive what The Lord is doing in our own lives, we experience peaceful hope and await our inheritance in The Lord. His plans are to prosper us; wait on Him.

Photo: Anxiety’s Spiral – La Sagrada Familia – Barcelona, Spain

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God’s Presence

Psalm 51 is a cry of King David’s heart and a plea to God for mercy:
“10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

David, a most powerful king, is powerless to cleanse, revive and sustain himself. David knows and feels his need for God’s presence to cleanse him, renew his faith, restore his joy, and enable him to persevere. By God’s Spirit, he trusts in the mercy of God’s redeeming love. Like David, we can invite God’s presence in and our souls be transformed. It may be a process of cleansing and renewing, but His Spirit brings restored joy and a strengthened, sustained spirit.