God of the Open Hand

You have been given everything you need to share the fullness of God and to enjoy His mercy and goodness today.  His hand is open to you.

Psalm 104 describes how God in wisdom and power provided everything man and beast needed to thrive on the earth.  Then, verses 27-28 summarizes this interaction: "They all wait for You to give them their food in due season.  You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. "

God is faithful.  He has given us all that we need to meet every need and He calls on us "to gather it up."  Psalm 145 celebrates this theme also, declaring His greatness and heart toward us.  "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.  The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.  The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.  He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.  The Lord keeps all who love Him."  You can know that this is how good God is toward you. 

Natural, or soulish man, cannot know or appreciate the gifts of God.  Therefore, the world and those who live by their mind, will, and emotions are just spectators that do not see or know the God who has provided everything.  However, when we receive our born-again spirit, we now can taste and see the goodness of the One who created all things for our good.  Our spirit has three basic functions: worship, revelation, and fellowship, which enable us to live by His Word, to let the revelation of God's greatness and goodness direct our thoughts and feelings.  Our spirit is in charge of the reaction of the soul, as David states in the Psalms, "Bless the Lord, O my soul."  His spirit directed his soul (thoughts, will, and feelings) to worship and yield to God.  The Word is spirit and life, so it provides the revelation, or enabling truth, that produces worship with God.  This fellowship with God allows us to know and enjoy all He has given.      

Let this truth that God's hand is open toward you direct your thoughts and feelings. Receive and rejoice in God's fresh mercy and goodness, for He "satisfies the desire of every living thing."  God's hand is open to you, releasing whatever you need to satisfy your heart's desires.  Just as Jesus asked the blind man in Luke 18, He now asks you, "What do you want Me to do for you?"

 

Rest

 In Psalm 116 there is a verse, "Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you."  This parallels the words of Jesus in Matthew 11, "Come to me all you who are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." 

Our soul, of course, is the center of our thoughts, feelings, and choices.  The Word renews our mind with His thoughts, which are infinitely higher than our thoughts.  Our feelings are refocused by considering His heart and what is dear to Him.  Finally, our choices means laying down our fleshly desires and settling it that we are living to please Him.  There is a rest once we have settled it and our heart is fixed or established, that we "delight to do Your will, O God."  Naturally, the Holy Spirit waits for us to call on Him to help us experience this peace He gives in mind, emotions, and will.  1 Thess 5:23-24 summarizes this beautifully. Now may the God of peace Himself sancitfy you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ   He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.   

Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is our peace or rest, means more than the absence of turmoil.  Shalom describes a total wholeness, well-being, peace in all facets of inner being.  Jesus says in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, ...let not your hearts be troubled."   The foundation of the New covenant is "It is finshed."  God has done for us what no man could do, making us righteous - right with God,  We can look at this two ways, right or correct with God, and secondly, right with God as sitting beside Him.  When we are right with God, there is no fear or anxiety.  We can afford to rest. 

Hebrews 4 assures us of God's promise to enter the rest and "we who have believed do enter that rest."  There is even an almost contradictory command, "Strive to enter the rest."  So today, our prayer is that we ask and let the Holy Spirit restore us with His rest, in body, soul, and spirit, because of Who and What the Lord has done.  He has dealt bountifuly with us.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, You are worthy to be praised!

Today many in the Body of Christ are calling for fasting and prayer to deliver us (the church) from lukewarmness, so I am asking for the Lord to set me and those who I know from being complacent, rather than diligent is seeking and obeying Him.  We rest in being yielded to Him.