When I Feel the Excitement of Purpose Before Me by Susan Shultz
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Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! - Psalms 103:1
This is how the hundred and third Psalm begins. My friend, Susan Shultz, is sharing her reflection of this Psalm with us today and reminding us of where all these Psalms began. Before the ink was on the paper, the inspiration came not as David and the other psalmists rushed through time with the Lord, but as they tarried in His presence - as they stayed longer than intended.
When we need to be refilled - when we feel the excitement of purpose before us - may we remember first to tarry with Him.
Susan is passionate about Christ and helping others live in preparation for Christ’s return and for their ultimate wedding day as His Bride. She uses her gifts to encourage others to live lives that testify to Him and to know: He still longs to get His Bride ready. You can connect with Susan's blog, Bridegroom in the Clouds, here.
Psalms 103 begins and ends with David speaking to his soul to bless the Lord, saying “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Because of this, I began to really ask myself what this really means, after which, God reminded me of my own testimony.
Many years ago, God called me to write my testimony and then to share it. For, like David, all of us have a story meant to bless the Lord. However, even with this calling on us, it can be easy to forget the very One who writes every story. Personally, one of my strengths is that I get things done. If I have a specific project or goal in mind, you can bet that I will give my all towards it until it is completed. However, our strengths can often become our weaknesses.
One day, eager to get started making a video God called me to make, I actually cut my quiet time with the Lord short. The next day however, I woke up to hear God say “Susan, let MY glory flow freely through you.” This wasn’t the first time God had said this to me, for it is actually one of my book chapter titles. Therefore, when God said it, I already knew what He meant. Within that chapter of my life, God taught me what it meant to worship Him or to bless Him, uninhibitedly like Kind David had once done when he danced before the Lord with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14), with all his soul.
As the day continued, I began writing down a message God laid on my heart, something I often do, but this time something odd kept happening. My pens kept running out of ink. Had it just happened once I wouldn’t have thought anything about it, but it happened four times. Because of this, I knew in my spirit that somehow this continuous loss of ink was meant to symbolize His Spirit and His ability to flow freely through me. To these thoughts, God spoke. He said, “Susan, let MY glory flow freely through you.”
I responded, “Am I not Lord?”
He answered, “You are, Susan, but make sure you continue to do so. It will become easy for you, My little one, who is eager to get things done, to ignore or rush time with Me. Do not skip this step. Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added onto you. I know you are excited and I have called you to testify, but this doesn’t give you permission to skip time with Me, for Susan, your stories come forth due to such time with Me.”
We truly are like pens, pens that God wants to use to write amazing stories, but we would be completely useless vessels if we had no ink. No stories would be written without this precious liquid. How we need a fresh filling granted to us as we spend time in the presence of the Lord. David was one that blessed the Lord with all his soul and because of that, look at his testimony. Look at what was written down with the “ink” in his pen, most of the Psalms, a truly amazing testimony.
Likewise, let us go to God first to be refilled with His Spirit so that in all we do, God will be the One whose glory flows freely through us. God is the One writing our stories, His Spirit through us, so we need to always have fresh ink and a soul surrendered that we may truly bless the Lord.
Now, It's Your Turn!
Before opening God's Word, take a moment to pray and ask God to meet you there. Then...
Read Psalm 103 a couple times. Highlight what stands out to you.
Circle verbs or specific wording you notice.
Then, write down a bullet point takeaway based on this. "I-statements" help make this personal. Think of this as a challenge statement.
I will go to God first to be refilled with His Spirit so that in all I do, God will be the One whose glory flows freely through me.
Then, jot down a question or two to think about today. You don't have to have the answer to this question now. And yield to the Holy Spirit - prayerfully ask God to search your heart and lead you to more truth and grow your faith through the Holy Spirit.
In what ways am I rushing or neglecting time with You? How can I better live out the heartbeat of this psalm, to bless You Lord with all my soul?
Again, we don't have to be Bible scholars and talk only in the thou's and art's of King James version to read this book. ...because when we pray before we read, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with us, guiding and teaching us.
Praise God for this!
And praise God for refreshment as we are intentional to spend a summer in the Psalms together, for if we want His truth to ever be on our lips, it must first be planted in our hearts.
Our strength grows as we rely on strength from above. Our joy grows as we see God transforming us from the inside out. Our peace grows as we spend time in God's presence, and we find rest when we intentionally seek the Lord first in our lives, for the Lord is ever our portion.
The good life, well it starts with a good day. Then another. Then another. Let's choose to live #TheGoodDay one day at a time.
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