II Timothy 1:7; Psalm 18 - "Made Me Glad"

God woke me during the night with Psalm 18:18 on my mind. Psalm 18 was written by David after a time God had saved him from his enemies. Saul had tried to destroy him but God protected him. In The Passion Translation verse eighteen reads: When I was at my weakest, my enemies attacked—but the Lord held on to me. Circumstances of life can be tough to endure but we, as believers, have the knowledge God is with us. He is there to protect us. He is there to empower us through the tough days when we rely on the Holy Spirit. We do not have to do anything alone. This week is full of doctor appointments. There is a lot of unknown involved. Will Doc restart chemo? What will the surgeon tell us? Will there still be a possibility of surgery even though the mass did not shrink? The list goes on and on with unknown answers but God is not unknown to us nor are the answers unknown to Him. We have to continue to trust and allow Him to work through this situation. We must not falter in our faith but instead must go deeper. God is holding onto us. He is strengthening us. He is empowering us through the Holy Spirit. I love what David proclaims in verse one of this translation. Lord, I passionately love you and I’m bonded to you,

for now you’ve become my power! This is exactly how I feel. I love Him so much and the desire of my heart is to share His love with others. The more I share His love, the more empowered I am to live His love. Woo hoo! I will continue to praise Him as verse forty-six says:

The Almighty is alive and conquers all!
Praise is lifted high to the unshakable God!
Towering over all, my Savior-God is worthy to be praised!

Amen! He is worthy of all our praise! No matter what we are going through in life, we need to praise Him! That may seem hard to do during tough times but it will knock the enemy down quicker than anything else. He does not like us to praise God. That is all the more reason we need to praise Him! The only way to live praising Him through the storms of life is to live in His empowerment as II Timothy 1:7 tells us. 

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for taking me to this scripture! Thank You for loving me so greatly that You prepare me for things ahead! Thank You for going before us to these appointments! Thank You for cleansing us so You can fill us up with more of You! May You be our words, actions and attitude throughout this day. May Your love flow from us in a new, different way! Father, thank You for the work being done on the church building. I pray for finances to come in for the deficit. I pray for those who are working on the building to fill Your presence there. I also pray for those who are going through 'tough' days physically as they deal with disease, surgeries, etc. May You continue to strengthen Doc in every aspect of life. I pray for John Harris' family as he has taken his last breath on this earth. Comfort them in a mighty way. Lord, empower us through these tough days. May Your strength be our strength. Thank You for our anniversary yesterday. I pray we will have many more. Thank You for being My Passion! Amen.