Daily Huddle - Sun Oct 4, 2020 What Delights God?

Love you all, praying for you,
 
What if you knew God was delighted with you?  Have you ever wondered if God really loved you, or was really pleased with you?  Maybe you doubted His love… maybe because you know the really ugly part of you.  Maybe you think you sinned too much, or sinned again.  Maybe you let Him down, and you wonder if He could still love you…  This is what God says.  I Chronicles 16:34 – O give thanks to the LORD for he is good; for his mercy endures forever.  2 Chronicles 5:13 – The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD.  Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:  “He is good; his love endures forever.”  At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.  And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.  That word mercy – means tender loving kindness, beauty and favor towards you.  Jeremiah 31:3 – The LORD appears to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.   Praise God his love for you is eternal, never changing, unbased in any way on your performance, whether good or bad.  The Father loved the prodigal who ran away as well as the son who stayed and served.  His love does not end, it does not change with what you do.  It remains the same forever.  But He also pours out his favor on those who love and obey him.   Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desire of your heart.  Delight yourself in the LORD starts with delighting yourself in His Word.  So if the enemy ever has you start to wonder or question God’s love for you, as if your ability or accomplishment, or performance had anything to do with it, go right back to the Word of God.  Go back to PRISM – Soak in His Word, and you will learn how to love Him better, and you will learn about his unchanging love for you.  So how do you get God to not just love you, but delight in you?  Exodus 33:12 – Moses said to the LORD” You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’  If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.  Remember that this nation is your people.  The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  The greatest benefit of God being pleased with you, is for Him to teach you His ways – so His favor can continue to be upon you.  That’s why PRISM – those five things you can do in His Word every day – is so important.  It is an investment like no other.  Psalms 147:11  the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.  What delights God?  Those who fear him (who turn from evil (like a bad smell), who tremble in His presence, (in holy awe and reverence) who fully obey – who take the time to ask and know and then do what He has planned for them, who say nothing harmful (to themselves or others, whose words match His Word), who seek peace and pursue it, (who don’t take offense, who believe the best, and speak the truth in love)... who fear Him, and who put their hope in his unfailing love.  To put your hope in his unfailing love, is to choose to believe that his love will never fail, and put your hope firmly in it.  Doubting his love for you, doesn’t delight Him, putting your hope squarely on the promise that His love never fails – that delights God.  What more can He do!  Greater love has no man than this, then a man would lay down his life for his friend.  What must Peter have felt when the rooster crowd, and He was faced with his own betrayal of His best friend, and the one true God?  Yet God’s love for him never failed.  He still loved Peter forever, and no matter what Peter’s failures were, God still had plans for his good!  God loves you every bit as much as He loved Peter, His disciples, His friends.  Praying that you will delight yourself in God, so He can give you the desires of your heart.  Praying that you grow in the Fear of the LORD, fully walking in His plans for you, praying that you will always put your hope in his unfailing love – because His Word is true.  So you will lose no time in His presence, and the hope of His plans for your good.  Your performance has nothing to do with it, nor your ability, or your accomplishment.  He loves you for you – with an everlasting love.  And He will direct you – in His Goodness!
 
Love you all,
dad