Taste! Trust! Take Refuge in the Joy of the Lord!

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  When we pour out our hearts to God, He pours His peace and joy into us.

            Listen to the wise instruction found in Psalm 62:8:

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

            Regardless of what is facing us in the days ahead, we can boldly trust in our God.  He is a refuge, the scripture tells us.  In Psalm 16:1-2 we find these words:

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.  I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

When we take refuge in the Lord, we understand that we have no good in us apart from God.  All our good — all our joy — is in God Himself.

Then in Psalm 34:8 we are instructed to “Taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Why should we taste and see? Because the one who “tastes the Lord and His goodness” knows that he can trust Him and take refuge in Him….which leads to blessings of joy! 

           Taste; Trust; Take refuge in God. He is our security and the source of genuine joy.

Take Refuge in the Lord

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Don’t depend on someone else to give you their serving of joy. Your daily portion is always ready, but you must be willing to accept it!

            We may not always be able to trust what people say. Sometimes they purposefully mislead us; other times they have good intentions, but don’t follow through for one reason or another. People with integrity truly aim at keeping their word, yet we are all human and can fall short and fail.

            Like Psalm 118:8 tells us:   

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”   People can let us down; but God is ALWAYS trustworthy.  He is our protector, our provider and our wise guide. We can “cast all our anxieties on him, because he cares for us” as 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us. 

            There will be times that we experience anxious situations and find ourselves in turmoil. A great verse to remember at those times is Psalm 65:3:   “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”  Ever said those words to God?  Talk to Him on a personal level and let Him calm your fears. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. He is loving. He is our hope.

             Put away all fear and anxiety by trusting in God and accepting your daily portion of joy in the Lord.

A Fresh, New Song of Joy

      Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Wait patiently and God will give you a new song of joy!

            At least nine times in the Bible we find the term “new song”. New means “fresh” and “song” (in this context) means “praise to God”. When our hearts are filled with gratitude for Who God is and what He has done for us, then we find ourselves with a fresh song of praise in our hearts and on our lips.

            Listen to the verses in Psalm 40 straight from David’s overflowing heart:

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust…”

            We can each identify with David as he speaks of being in the pit….the miry bog.  Life has a way of doling out unexpected, unwanted circumstances that discourage and destroy. But we can….with God’s help…get through those pits and move forward toward a brighter day.  He will give us a “new song” of praise, joy and hope when we trust in Him.

             May this New Year be a series of new songs of praise, hope and joy.