Thursday... He really does and he really will.

Psalm 149:4-5 (NLT), "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

Thursday... He really does and he really will.

This is such a great reality that makes all the difference. Psalm 149:4-5 (NLT) says, "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

Yes, yes, God delights in his people. He really does. He, the Lord takes pleasure in his people. Now that is a great way to wake up every morning but it is also great when we go to bed each night with that thought going through our heads.

Now my mom was so special. She was a great mom for Connie, Larry and Bill, that's me. But she did one thing that some would say wasn't good. Now it was to me. As a young boy it didn't have a negative affect, it was a positive. Here is what she did, every night she would pray for each one of us and then we would sing a song. Now the song said, "Now I lay be down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen!"

Now the protectors of the world would say that is a horrible song for kids to sing before they went to sleep but to those who are preparers it refinfored an important reality. It was not a negative to me. It was only later in my life that I found out that is wasn't a good thing to do as a parent. But it holds a warm feeling to me as an adult. The Psalmist says, "Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

Now there is another reality that is important for us to realize. I am also reading the last book in the Bible, Revelation which shows what the judgement will be like for those who are not followers of God and who hate him and his followers. It is not a pretty story and that is why I spend time everyday of my retirement striving to tell people, "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

Yes, we have a choice and I'm glad my mom reinforced that choice to me as a child. Now I know we live in different days and we didn't sing that song to our kids. But we reinforced this reality in different ways.

Now my dad was a traveling evangelist when it was just the four of us. And at the end of each service in different churches all over the nation my dad as I got older would have me come up during a time of invitation and lead at least two different songs, Pass Me Not or Almost Persuaded. Now that is not done today. But it was effective then. We had people come down to an altar and kneel and ask God to come into their heart, into their life. The way we do it now is different but doing it has the same result. Each of us as individuals need to ask Jesus to come into our lives, to give our lives to Him. And the results are amazing. "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

Yes, choosing to be a follower of Christ by giving our lives to Him really does makes all the difference in the now and the later on. And yes it is our choice. Just say, "Lord, I give you my life" and then share what you did with someone. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning