The Good News is the Only News!

Psalm 94:19 “When I am filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy.” ~CSB
 
I remember a time when TV only had five channels. And on those channels, we would get the news
every now and then. Late night, all the channels would sign off, no more TV until the morning. The local paper would talk about ‘local’ things going on in our area. In other words, we would only know what was going on in our ‘backyard’. Some may say that’s a bad thing, where others may say it may have been a good thing. But what it did do, was limit what got into our heads and caused us worry.
 
Today’s world is a different story. Let’s face it, today it is hard to wake up and not get mentally stirred up about the things around us. Most of us wake up and the first thing we grab is our smart phones. These phones have ‘global’ coverage. In an instant, we hear about an unjustified death in a city thousands of miles away. We hear gossip on social media that makes us question the state of our ‘own’ home, family, and marriages. We allow the happenings, actions, and end results of tragedy, to creep into our spirits before we have even allowed time to be spent with God.
 
Whew! What a crazy thought. Spending time with God first. You know, this just might not be a bad idea. The enemy knows scripture. He knows that God’s love is renewed every morning, (Lamentations 3:22-23). It is the morning time that is the best time to spend in God’s word to spiritually regroup.
 
The enemy knows our spirits are like dry sponges ready to absorb to the fullest. This is why he summons our spirits to grab that smart phone first thing. Know that it’s easy for us to become upset in the morning when we can’t find our keys; our alarms don’t go off; we don’t get our coffee in time; our
children aggravate us before they go to school. Everything becomes ‘too much’ because the enemy
knows that if you get that time with God, you will be able to endure and overcome his influences for
that day. He doesn’t want that.
 
But God wants you to spend your time with Him. He wants to show you and give you the love you need to spiritually overcome a physically overbearing world. When you think about the world being wicked, just think about the Psalmist recognizing God when he says in verse 16, “Who stands up for me against the wicked? Who takes a stand for me against evil doers?”
 
How he witnesses to all, in his trust and faith in the Lord, by saying in verse 17, “If the Lord had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of my death.” And how he acknowledges stumbling in life but knows God is there to pick him up when he says in verse 18, “If I say, ‘My foot is slipping, Your faithful love will support me, Lord.”
 
Dr. Charles Stanley mentions in one of his devotions, “Little faith ‘hopes’ that God will do what He says;
strong faith ‘knows’ that He will; and great faith ‘believes’ that He has already done it.” Little faith can
grow. Strong faith is good. Let us all work that faith muscle out in the mornings in our time with the Lord so that we may have GREAT faith. And in this faith, we can speak God’s word in confidence, “…When I am filled with cares, (and worry), Your comfort (Lord) brings me joy.”
 
May the Lord continue to bless, comfort, and guide you as you journey in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

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