Jesus welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those in need. Luke 9:11

Seeds of the Kingdom

Lord of My Thoughts

by Juliet Geertsma

30 November 2016

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I will lift up my soul to you, LORD. I trust in you, my God, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies triumph over me.
Psalm 25:1, NIV

There are times in our lives when disaster strikes – the ‘worst-case-scenario’ arrives unannounced in our world – front and centre. All we can see is this mountain that wasn’t there yesterday, but is now obliterating anything else from our vision.

In times like these, the sudden death of a loved one, a diagnosis of sickness, or redundancy from work, when we need to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. But more than this, our obedience isn’t a blind obedience, but rather one where we can be sure of the One whom we obey.

In Psalm 25 David is saying, “To You Lord, I lift up my soul”. That means my mind, my thought life, what I dwell on, and what I chose to believe; my will – and how I’m going to respond to this mountain that has just seemingly blocked out the light; and my emotions – the raw reality of pain, anguish, anger, despair.

David goes on to lift up these areas of his soul to the One who IS, the One who created him, and knows the beginning from the end, and who holds it all together – who knows what is good for us, and can even turn around that which the enemy of our souls means for our destruction. Trusting means to rely on, to be confident in and to depend on something, or someone, worthy of our trust.

Father God is just that – dependable, a strong tower of refuge and our source. He knows. He understands the circumstance.

Perhaps today you’ve just received bad news, heard a frightening report, or seen disaster strike. Lift up your soul to Your Father today. Give Him Lordship over your thought life (any desire for revenge or retribution), your choices, (what do I do now Lord?), as well as the real raw emotion. Be real with God. He can handle reality, but allow Him to speak into that real confusion, pain and disbelief – to speak His still small voice of reason, comfort and love. Allow the God of all comfort to comfort you.

For He is the One who will save us from our enemy (who wants us to go into fear, despair, and hatred), and once we have given Him the initial pain and confusion, He’s able to keep us from the shame, and even the defeat, which follows such tragedy.

Put your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s able to move mountains. He’ll make the sun shine once more, and He’ll bring His victory out of defeat. That’s who He is, the victor, and the lifter of our heads.

Prayer: Today, Lord, I lift my situation to You. I choose to give You my feelings about it, my thoughts, my emotions involved, my choices and my responses. I ask You to be the Lord over the circumstances, and the detail of the outcome. As I do this, please protect me from those things which draw me away from Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Juliet Geertsma is an associate team member of Ellel South Africa. Married to Peter, they have 2 married daughters, and 3 wonderful grandchildren. She loves to worship and to facilitate healing for people as they meet with Father. One of her greatest delights is the natural beauty of the African landscapes, and the wonder of the creative diversity in the skies, on the land, and under the oceans.

 

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