Devotional for Sunday, March 27, 2016
“In His Presence Is Unbounded Joy!”
by Dona Hake
Psalm 16:11 (CJB)
“You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.”
“You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.”
It is Easter Day, and we are so blessed because our Savior lives. Praise God He was raised from the dead! He promised to send us His Spirit, and abide in us that we can serve Him in greater ways! Today I want you to meditate upon His precious presence as He abides within you, and what a joy it is for us to abide in His presence.
I can remember once stopping at one of my favorite flower shops. You can hand pick each flower and create exactly what you want. As the clerk was wrapping them she asked me how long it would be till I would get home with them. The one flower in particular was extremely delicate and would have been affected by the very hot temperatures of the summer day we were having. She said, “These cannot be out of water any longer than thirty minutes.” Although I felt I would make it home on time, I asked her to do a water wrap on them just in case I hit bad traffic. When we really want to take special care of anything, we will go the extremes of what we need to do to keep and guard that thing.
Many times everyday experiences make me ponder spiritual truths. Jesus taught in parables a lot because it brought spiritual truths alive through the earthly stories that He would share. I began to think about how I valued these flowers and how pretty they were. I also realized that because they were so different that they required special care. It caused me to think about the importance of being mindful that I cannot afford slip out of God’s presence for by it I live, and it is worthy to be guarded. Because He loves me so much, and created me so uniquely for a purpose, I need to value and heed to the truth that He desires that I remain in His presence that my spirit remained nourished by Him.
As I ponder staying in God’s presence I also began thinking about how Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us. You see, He has promised to stay in our presence. It is our choice that we must make to value staying in His presence, and doing whatever it takes to make that a lifestyle. I love how this translation of Psalm 16:11 is written. In God presence is unbounded joy! Think about it, joy that has no limits, borders, or bounds. It is unrestrained, and uncontrolled. Let us also remember the scripture that says the joy of the Lord is our strength.
I encourage you today to think about staying in the presence of your Lord. Think about how He desires that you remain there. Even in the midst of our jobs and daily responsibilities, God desires that we acknowledge His presence, and He wants us to bask in it! The same way that my flowers needed to be drawing on the life giving qualities of the water, we too need to stay in His presence that we draw upon His life continually.