| Psalm 149:4 – 25 August 2018 |
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
NKJV
Let Abba’s words breathe life into your heart today and fill you with His joy. Read them to yourself aloud. Receive His delight in you, receive the truth that He is pleased with you. He takes pleasure in you! Perhaps you have been laboring under a spirit of heaviness, but God is setting you free. You may have been working hard, carrying a weight that has come from an endless striving to please God. Here’s the good news: He is already pleased with you! He loves you unconditionally. While it is possible to grieve our Father’s heart, or distance ourselves from Him by things we say or do, there is nothing you could do that could make Him stop loving you. He is love, and He is living in you and there is absolutely nothing that could separate us from our Father’s love (Romans 8:38). Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), so how much more would He stand with us, when we now belong to Him and live for Him! He says: “I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. You did not choose Me, I chose you, and you are My treasure and My delight. I am with you for the long haul. I will be with you always.”
Shake off the heaviness, dear friend. Shake off the spirit of condemnation, that voice or feeling that often tells you that you failed, and did not do enough, or that you have not measured up. That is the voice of the religious spirit, which keeps you weighed down, “doing”, and working hard to earn the love of a Father who already loves you endlessly. It brings you under a spirit of performance that keeps you from the deep inner rest which comes from the assurance of the Father’s love. We did nothing to earn our salvation except to believe and to humble ourselves before God, and that is what He seeks from us, as we progress with Him from day to day. It is not necessary to incessantly “do” any more. You can start to “be” a son (or daughter) knowing that He sees beauty and glory in your humble heart. He is making all things new. He is breaking off the condemnation, casting out every accusation, and establishing you where you are called to be, ruling and reigning at His side. Psalm 149:4 tells us that the Lord takes pleasure in us, His people, His chosen ones in whom He delights! Isaiah 42:1 says : “Behold My servant whom I uphold, My elect one in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon him.” The blessed Holy Spirit has been given to us, so that we may live in the Father’s pleasure, staying connected to the sweetness of heaven. We are sons (and daughters), filled with the Spirit of God, brought into sonship through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are His treasure, His joy and delight!
The Holy Spirit is reaching out to sons and daughters reading this message, calling them deeper into the Father’s heart. Instead of trying to fight off the accusation, condemnation, guilt and blame that seems to speak quite loud, just come deeper into Jesus and get filled up with His presence. Seek His face, and receive His grace. There is so much more of Him than you have ever known, so much love and glory to fill your home. You are strong and powerful, and filled with His might. You were born with a purpose, you are filled with His light! There is no weapon fashioned that can prosper against you, and no tongue that rises up against you that can stand. (Isaiah 54:17). You are completely surrounded with His favor as with a shield (Psalm 5:12). Believe this sacred truth, that Almighty Yahweh, the Creator God absolutely loves and delights in you, and His hand of power rests upon you. You were born to win, and you look better every day, because Abba God is “beautifying” you!
