July 17

Great passage about the Messiah and His salvation! There sure was a lot of joy going on about this great salvation. In fact it says that sorrow and sighing will flee away because gladness and joy will overtake us! So what does all this really mean? I was asking the Lord about the suffering and hardships that we must endure in this life and how the gladness and joy thing works. I get it that we are supposed to be exhilarated at being saved, but how about life?

Here is my revelation. When you understand that you were brought from captivity into your inheritance, from hopelessness into delight, from death to life, from being owned into being bought by God himself, from slavery into freedom there is an abiding joy and gladness that WILL OVERTAKE US! So what about the times that I don’t feel overtaken? I really believe it is because I am not recognizing that I am saved! I suppress the joy of salvation by focusing on this life and its troubles. Even with the hardships of this life – I am saved – my end is joy – the dead end of my life is neither dead nor and end – it is heaven! Worst case scenario – heaven! Worst case scenario on this earth – struggle with the love of my Papa by my side telling me that He will make a way! I think the point here is that I have got to get my eyes on my salvation. When I think about being redeemed, freed, reconciled and saved, and that God did it just because He loves me and wants to be with me, I go to a happy place.