WANT TO RESTORE THE JOY OF BEING SAVED?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
(Psalm 51:12)

MEDITATION:
This devotional from the Lord speaks to all believers who are ashamed
and disappointed with themselves. Why would we feel that way? It is
because we know God has freely given us salvation, and yet we failed to
be obedient and have disappointed Him with our sinfulness. It can create
a feeling of devastation in us, can’t it? But there is hope!

If you are a believer, can you recall that day when you were
saved? Maybe not the date and time, but the experience you
had? Can you remember the emotions you felt at the time?
Did it feel like you had a tenseness bottled up inside and you
finally found a sweet release from it through God’s ‘free’ gift
of salvation?

You may have shed tears at the time, but they were tears of joy
and happiness, because you knew that you had made the most
important decision you could make during your existence here
on earth. Some people refer to this exhilarating feeling as a
‘spiritual high’.

Now, turn the clock forward a few months, or years (whichever
is appropriate). Some things began to change, didn’t they? Your
commitment to the Lord wasn’t as strong as it was when you
made your profession of faith.

Some sinful habits of the past started to find their way back
into your life. Other things have become more important than
putting God first. Your interest in reading His Word has begun
to diminish. The time you spend in prayer has become less, and
maybe even nonexistent.

Spending time with other believers has lost its importance and
attractiveness. Even when you are with other believers, you
don’t interact with them as you should. Why? Because they
seem to still have a close relationship with the Lord, but your
fellowship with Him has been diminished.

You might have drifted into a ‘silo’ lifestyle, which has lessened
or prevented your interaction with other followers of Jesus Christ.
You may have found yourself avoiding the very people who God
intended us to be with for receiving strength and encouragement.

Perhaps your ‘connection’ with the Lord isn’t as strong as it was,
and you sense a loss of the joy you had on the day you were saved.
You may have a feeling that a ‘spiritual low’ has replaced the joy
of a ‘spiritual high’ you felt when God blessed you with salvation.

This is not unusual: apparently the Psalmist had a similar experience.
However, the good news is, the Lord keeps us on what could be called
a ‘symbolic leash’, and He gives us a gentle tug whenever we begin to
drift away from Him. It is important for us to feel His ‘tug’, and react
to it in the right way. Not by being resistant or rebellious, but by being
humble and having a renewed commitment to obedience.

His ‘tug’ may come from something you read, a song, or maybe a friend
who reminds you that you are gradually disconnecting from the Lord. If
we fail to heed His ‘tug’, then we are in danger of opening the door for
Satan to drive a wedge between us and the Lord. Sometimes, when God
sees us drifting, His gentle ‘tug’ may become a strong ‘yank’ and include
some unexpected actions which might be emotionally traumatic for us.

How did the Psalmist handle it when he realized he was slipping
away from the Lord? He prayed and asked God to restore the joy
he had in his relationship with his heavenly Father. Not only that,
but he also asked God to change his spirit.

The Psalmist knew that he had allowed his spirit to be influenced by
the wrong things and it was eating away everything he felt when he
was close to God. He had a burning desire to have his spirit restored
to the level it was when he was close to God. He wanted to return to
the days when God was the top priority in his life.

He longed to return to a lifestyle that didn’t allow his selfishness to
interfere with his relationship with God. Why? Because he valued
his fellowship with God. He knew the joy of being close to God was
gone from his life and only God could restore it. The Psalmist knew
the things of the world had stolen his happiness, and he wanted it back!

Learning even just a little about the wrong things can take us away
from God, but developing a full understanding of God and His love
will bring us back to Him. And when it does, we will have a greater
appreciation of His love for us and we will see the importance of
being obedient to Him and His commands.

ACTION:
Questions to ponder:
    – Do I still have the same relationship with God that I had
       when I first received His salvation?
    – Is the joy of being His child as strong today as it was initially?
    – Have I allowed my spirit of ‘wanting to be close to the Lord’,
       to become dulled by the things of this world, and/or my own
       selfishness?
    – Am I living a ‘silo’ life that has caused me to interact
       less with other believers (as God intended)?
    – Do I want the joy of His salvation restored in my life?
    – Do I sincerely want a change in my spirit so God will
       again be the first and most important priority in my life?

Have you realized that after you were saved, God gave you the
Holy Spirit to serve as your ‘helpmate’ while adjusting to your
new life of becoming more like Jesus. Becoming more like Jesus
is a process called, ‘sanctification’.

It’s initiated by the Lord, and it is a continual transformation
that ‘renews our mind’ and gives us a new purpose for living.
This renewal includes purging us of ‘unrighteousness’ and
filling the void with ‘righteousness’.
    Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but
    be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
    Then you will be able to test and approve what
    God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.
    (Romans 12:2)

The Bible is there to help us, and we can learn a lot about
‘reconnecting’ with God when we read how the Psalmist
communicated with Him about his own desire to have the
‘joy of his relationship with Him’ restored.

Like all of us, he made some mistakes in his life that caused
him to have a feeling of separation from God, but he knew
that if he did nothing, then nothing would change.

Instead of allowing the evil one to convince him that he was
no longer worthy of a fellowship with God, he rejected those
thoughts and went to God Himself with his concerns.

Satan can do that to us, can’t he? He waits for an opportunity
to ‘pounce’ on us when we are down, so he can convince us
that we have ‘blown it’, and since we are no longer close to
God, then we have lost our salvation and will miss out on
heaven.
    Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the
    devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking
    for someone to devour.
    (1 Peter 5:8)

Satan wants us to fall into his ‘pity party’ trap of feeling
sorry for ourselves, so he can create thoughts like,
    “Since I’ve messed up and lost my relationship
      with God, I might as well fall back into continual
      sin without any feelings of guilt or sorrow”.

That’s how he works, doesn’t he? But the good news is,
God will not allow us to live a sinful life with no guilt!
Why would He want us to feel guilty? Because He loves
us so much that He wants to fellowship with us now, and
He wants us to spend an eternity with Him in the future.

When we spend time reading God’s Word, we are reminded
that He is our Creator, and He genuinely wants what is best
for us (including a close fellowship with Him).
    And we know that in all things God works for the
    good of those who love him, who have been called
    according to his purpose.
    (Romans 8:28)

Satan wants us to forget the promises of God that He will bless us.
Why does God make that promise to us? Because He has a purpose
for us, and that purpose is to do ‘good works’. Not in order to gain
salvation, but because our attitudes and focus have been changed
as a result of our salvation!
    And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that
    in all things at all times, having all that you need,
    you will abound in every good work.
    (2 Corinthians 9:8)

When we are usable by God, not only is our life better, but
we will also have a positive impact on everyone around us.
    This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress
    these things, so that those who have trusted in God
    may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is
    good. These things are excellent and profitable for
    everyone. (Titus 3:8)

We can all agree that when we feel we have a purpose for living,
our life becomes more enriched, and it impacts our overall being
in a positive way. Why? Because we know we are fulfilling the
reason God has created us (to do good works).
    For we are God’s handiwork, created in
    Christ Jesus to do good works, which
    God prepared in advance for us to do.
    (Ephesians 2:10)

When we feel separated from God at any level,
we have two choices we can make:
        1. We can choose to continue doing nothing to effect a change
             in our life, and wallow in a ‘pity party’ that causes frustration
             and an unfulfilling life with no purpose (a sad life without hope).
    or,
        2. We can choose to go to our Heavenly Father and earnestly tell
             Him about our concerns and our desire to change our direction
             so we can restore our fellowship with Him, and begin fulfilling
             the purpose He had in mind when He created us.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your salvation. Thank You
for saving me. Forgive me for allowing other things to cause
a gap in my relationship with You. I can remember when an
unbelief reigned in my life and how much joy I experienced
when You gave me Your salvation. Please restore in me the
joy of Your salvation and change my spirit so this joy will
be sustained in my life. I know that when You change me,
I can once again put You first and enjoy my relationship
with You. Your restoration will help me experience the
excitement of fulfilling Your purpose for me!”

BLOG: utvolwoody.wordpress.com