Holiness, Not Happiness
2010-01-27

Here I am, back again today for some more wisdom from your words, Lord. Yesterday, you showed me the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us in our prayers. I'm excited about what I will find today.

First, I will send out a prayer for the President.

President Obama Freezes White House Salaries

President Barack Obama announced he will freeze the salaries of senior White House officials and other top political appointees for savings of $4 million in fiscal 2011. The freeze will affect White House staff earning more than $100,000 a year. It will be expanded to include political appointees working across the executive branch and in all agencies. The total number of people affected will be 1,200 for a saving of $4 million in fiscal 2011 beginning Oct. 1, the official said. For the second year in a row, Obama will also eliminate bonuses for political staff across the executive branch, which will affect 3,000 people.

Pray for the families of our soldiers who continue to sacrifice for our nation.

I think it's a bold move for them to freeze those salaries, but I also think that, in a time of economic crisis, it is a good show of solidarity to make wise financial decisions regarding our government, too. Now if we could just get them to stop spending our tax dollars on wasteful and unnecessary projects...


A Musician Looks At the Psalms--Don Wyrtzen

Psalm 22 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. Verses 12-13

As he continues the theme of suffering, David begins to describe Christ's suffering on the cross. The two verses above describe the crowd on the scene. The mocking crowd was like a "menagerie of wild animals."

Verses 16-18 continue the description of the scene, in detail that can only be provided by the Holy Spirit in prophecy. The hands are pierced, the garments are divided by the soldiers.

In Romans 8:17-18, we are told that we will share in the sufferings of Christ. Many would have us believe that, because we do the will of God, we will never have anxiety and trauma. However, we must recognize that, sometimes, we will suffer because we do the will of God. It happened to David, and it happened to Jesus Christ. What makes us think we would be any different??

Our goal should be holiness, not happiness. I like that. It's true. We reach too much for happiness. We should reach, instead, for holiness.


Father, I pray that I would alter my life so that I am reaching for holiness rather than happiness. Too much of my life is tied up in "stuff." Granted, I have relinquished some of that struggle in past years. But there is still a lot of it, and it is distracting from the Main Thing, which is you. So I pray, that I would continue to recognize the lack of value in all the stuff of earth as I seek to be in the center of your holiness.

The desire of my heart;
To feel your breath upon me.
I'm standing on the edge of
The stillness of eternity.
I will enter in,
The stuff of earth behind me,
With my gaze fastened firmly on you.

In the center of your holiness,
Eternal joy and peace will flood my soul
And there, at last, I will truly know you
As you know me perfect and complete
My soul's desire will now be fully realized
And my reward will be to see your face
And there I'll stay, living for eternity
In the center of your holiness.

(Lyrics by Jeff Bickley)


Seek his holiness.

Grace and peace, friends.



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