Day 102: Clinging to God

Psalms 63:8

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Cling- to be or remain close

Today we’re talking about being clingy. Now, usually this is a bad thing, we think of being clingy towards another person as desperate. We look at clingy people as needy and too dependent on others.  But what about when we are clinging to God? That is exactly what we are, we are in constant need of the Lord and very dependant. There is nothing wrong with being close to people and wanting to be close to them. However, if there is anyone we want to cling to or be clingy with, that person is God. God is someone that we should want to remain close to all the days of our lives.  We want to be wherever He is, whatever He is doing we want to be a part of it.

David says that His soul clings to God, that’s where we should all be. Holding on to God for dear life. Holding on to Him so tight as if we are afraid to let god. Our souls long for a savior, our souls want the love of God. The best place for our souls to be  is in the hands of god. The best place for us to be is in the presence of God, and there is where we will stay.

It’s almost like being desperate, having an urgent need or desire. We are in constant need of God, we cannot live without Him. It’s knowing that without Him in our life everything would fall to pieces. We need Him and more than that we want to have Him near us every second of every day. That is where we live, clinging to God because we know who holds our life. We know who has everything we need, we cling to the supplier of life. We cling to the person who blew breath into our bodies and gave us life. We want to be near the person who has had His hand on us from the very beginning. The person who has led us to where we are. The person who sent His son to die on a cross so that He could have a relationship with us. We cling to the giver of the Holy Spirit that guides our footsteps and protects us all the days of our lives. We want Him because, who would we be without Him? Where would we be without Him? As we said yesterday, God is everything we need and more. Everything we want and more. Why not cling to Him? why not fall desperately head over heels for Him? He’s that person that we can fall so deep in love with and keep falling every day of our lives. There is so much to cling on to, so why not?

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself clinging on to God more than anything or anyone in your life?
2. What does it mean to be desperate for God?
3. Do you truly believe that God is greater than any and everything you could every want or need?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what stood out to you today and whatever is on your heart.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening, make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 103!

Day 80: Push Yourself

1 Samuel 30:6

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Sometimes in life, there will be no one there to push us forward, there will be no one there to hold us accountable, or pick us up. It is in these moments that we must learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We must learn to push ourselves, we must learn to hold ourselves accountable.

When I was a youth pastor I would always talk to some of the youth department and they would say something like, “When I want to sin, I just picture your face, or I just talk to you about it.” My response would always be, what about when I’m not there, one day I won’t be able to pick up the phone, what then? I wanted them to learn to depend on God more than me. I wanted them to be able to push themselves, and pray for themselves when no one else was there to do it for them. I did not want to be a crutch to them.

-Dyamond

As we grow in Christ we must make sure that we are dependent solely upon God, so that we do not have to run to anyone to get in contact with Him. Our pastor’s and peers are great, but sometimes we are going to be alone, sometimes they won’t pick up that phone. We have to push ourselves even when we are distressed like David, we have to pray for ourselves. I love that the Scripture says, David strengthened himself in the Lord. We don’t just find that strength on our own. We learn to go to God ourself for ourselves and get an overflow of His strength. Whenever we need it, we know that we can turn to God. No one can do for us what God can. We have the opportunity to have a relationship with God and be intimate with Him same as the next person. We just have to know that we are capable of praying for and pushing ourselves. It doesn’t make us selfish or prideful, it means that we trust and depend on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:12

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

We also have to push ourselves when we are tired when we are ready to give up, when it’s too painful when everything is telling us to quit. We have to push ourselves. If we want that blessing, if we want that life of eternity with Christ, we must push ourselves to keep going even when we think we can’t take it anymore.

It’s like working out, when we workout we are working towards those summer beach bodies, and we have to push through the pain of the workout if we ever want to get our bodies summer ready. That means we have to run an extra mile even when we’re out of breath, do twenty more crunches when our abs are burning, do a few more chin ups when our arms feel like they can't lift anymore. It hurts, we’re breathing heavy, doing whatever we can to ease the pain, but we still feel it. We even feel it a couple of days after. But we keep going to the gym, we keep running, we keep lifting, because we want that body. We have a goal in mind, and we can’t stop until we reach it.

It’s the same when we are pressing towards the goal of perfection, when we are pushing towards whatever it is God has for us. There will be some pain, there will be reasons to quit, but God is bigger. Our faith is bigger than our weakness. Our faith in God surpasses our pain. We have our eye on a greater prize, and with that in mind. WE CANNOT STOP! We have to push, we can’t quit we have to keep going. Even when those muscles are sore from yesterday’s workout, keep going.  Because when all's said and done, all the pain, the heartache, and the tears and sweat will be worth it. It’s like spiritual fitness.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Know that you have the ability to encourage yourself, you have to push yourself when no one else is around. Find your strength in the Lord and keep moving forward. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart today ask Him to strengthen you, look to God first.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day and start to your week. Share this with someone and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 81!