Heart Inspirations

1 Chronicles 16:8-12

Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

Call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples!

Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;

Talk of all His wondrous works!

Glory in His holy name;

Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!

Seek the LORD and His strength;

Seek His face evermore!

Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth…

~~~

I LOVE this powerful, action-packed passage that emanates JOY!

No doubt in your school days you learned about VERBS–those words that indicate the action in a sentence…the activity being accomplished.  And WOW!  Did you notice them all…did you see all of the verbs in this text?  They jump off the page!  It is teeming with action….indicating the activity and involvement we are called to in this whole joy-filled process!

Let’s look together, shall we, at the actions we are called to…

Oh, GIVE THANKS to the LORD!

 CALL upon His name; MAKE KNOWN His deeds among the peoples!

SING TO HIM, SING psalms to Him; TALK of all His wondrous works!

GLORY IN HIS HOLY NAME; LET the hearts of those REJOICE who SEEK the LORD!

SEEK the LORD and His strength; SEEK His face evermore!

REMEMBER His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth…

What do you think?  Thanking…calling on or praying….sharing…singing / praising / glorifying…seeking…remembering!

There’s extreme power in actively engaging our hearts and minds to FOCUS ON THE LORD in this journey toward joy…and when we choose to be giving thanks to the LORD; calling upon Him; making known His deeds to others; singing to Him; talking of and glorying in His holy name; choosing to let ourselves truly rejoice in the LORD; seeking Him; and remembering His marvelous works…

….then….

…those thoughts and actions create a type of auto-correct in the soul, shifting and centering our hearts away from our challenges and helping us to focus on the beautiful, mighty One Who loves us so deeply…Who cares more than any other possibly can…truly!

And when our thoughts are centred on Him…that’s when it happens…that’s when we are filled up with unspeakable joy!

And did you notice that from this text, the joy-filled journey begins with THANKSGIVING to the LORD…and concludes with REMEMBERING His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.  We can do that!

So…

….do you want to embrace true joy?!

It’s ours for the taking…and the simple truth is that we just need to choose to activate those verbs, toward the LORD, in our lives…which will change or enhance our view points, attitudes and centre of focus…and then we need to be prepared…to gather the joy in!

Because when we SEEK THE LORD…and He’s in the centre of our hearts…JOY is guaranteed!

Hugs,

Lisa

P.S.  Much THANKS for this photo of the grand Niagara River and gorge, from guest-photographer Joel Hains!