I was needing a little dose of joy and encouragement this afternoon… for no particular reason, really. And I got out this little book I found when cleaning out a closet recently given by my mom for one of my birthdays several years ago. It’s called “Pure Joy” by Alicia Britt Chole. She quoted Psalm 36:7, “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. [It goes on to say in verses 8-9 the following] They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”  And then Chole goes on to say… My life, my job, my relationships, my responsibilities, my needs, my wants, my worries, my God, where are YOU!? All we can see is imperfect and needy ME. No wonder we feel overwhelmed.

How freeing it would be to open our eyes to the light of God’s love. When placed in the light of our awesome God, our lives find new perspective: ANXIETY is replaced by hope when we see that nothing could ever be bigger than God. FEAR looses its strength when we recognize that God’s power and love are infinitely greater than our weakness and failure. PEACE floods our lives when we remember that all our needs are safely encompassed by God’s brilliant sufficiency.

As I was reading, the words of the song Abba Father playing in the background caught my attention…

Abba Father you have loved me /With a love like I’ve never known /Abba Father you have saved me /From the depths that I’ll never know /What a great Father you are /What a great Father you are /You have loved with arms wide open /You have helped me through it all /You are faithful to the broken /Lord you help me when I fall /Thank you Lord for all that You’ve done /Thank you Lord for giving your Son /When I was lost you came after me /When I deserved such great penalty /What a great Father you are / What a great Father you are /You have loved with arms wide open /You have helped me through it all /You are faithful to the broken /Lord you help me when I fall /What a great Father you are /What a great Father you are /Lord you hear me when I call /You have loved me through it all

Thanks, Daniel Doss band for a little dose of joy this afternoon in my moment of need.

Check out more from the Daniel Doss band at www.danieldossband.com.