MINISTRY MOMENT

The Lord your God delights in YOU! It might be difficult to wrap your brain around this - as we take inventory of the things we know about our past selves and all the things we have or haven’t done. But God does not want us to live in that place of shame and guilt. When we surrender ourselves to Him, and accept His free gift of salvation, all of that is wiped away, and His Holy Spirit rushes in and replaces our yuck with His delight. Our ashes are replaced with His beauty.

PRAYER POINT

"Father, thank You for delighting in me. Thank You for choosing me. Thank You for equipping me and gifting me with Your Spirit through Jesus. Remind me when I get sidetracked that You have created me on purpose for Your purpose, and nothing the enemy throws my way will change that! Amen!"

GOING DEEPER

As you read through Psalm 18 and Zephaniah 3, the context is not sunshine and rainbows. David is thanking God for rescuing him from being hunted by King Saul and his armies - there was a lot of yuck going on, yet David recognized God’s hand in protecting him in the midst. Zephaniah is girding up the faithful worshipers in Jerusalem following a time of extreme lawlessness of the people, his message from the Lord to the faithful is for them to rejoice as He cleans up the mess. What can you rejoice about today in the midst of a struggle? Are you delighting in and worshiping Him during the battle?

WALK IT OUT

We are called to delight in the Lord. Try delighting in the Lord when things are difficult today - maybe during the drive to or from your job, when someone lights your last nerve on fire, or the weight of all the things feels especially heavy. Look around (carefully if you’re operating a vehicle!) and notice and say them out loud!

SHARE WITH OTHERS

Notice God’s gifting in someone else and tell them you see Him working through them.