Flashback Friday Devotion #39 [clay]

Hi, Everyone.
I love that this devotion mentions Psalm 37:4, and that it is coming to pass in my daughter's life. God is giving her the desires of her heart, in response to her softening to The Potter. The wedding is December 19. :)
Today's devotion is from my personal journal dated May 17, 2007. Let me know how God speaks to you.

Flashback Friday Devotion #39 [clay]

     I read a quote by John Piper today, and it got me thinking. He says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
     It reminded me of how, for so long, I didn't feel right unless I felt wrong. "Dissatisfied" was the adjective that hung over me, like a sign, and, I believe, despite all I've been through in my past, it was dissatisfaction that ushered in depression in my life.
     Jesus wants me to be passionate about Him. He was certainly passionate about me! He died for me. He lives in me, delights my soul, and stirs me.
     I was drawn to the Psalms, to read about delighting in the Lord and praising Him. I love Psalm 16:11, "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, in Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
     I thought of Psalm 37:4, which is a verse I pray for my daughter, Leah, for a godly husband. "Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart." I realize that I've never looked up the Hebrew for the words "delight" and "desires," for Psalm 37:4, so I decided to do that, and, my, how my perspective on this verse broadened!
     The Hebrew word for "delight" means "to be soft or pliable." The Hebrew word for "desires" means "requests, desires, petitions." If I want to have a "yes" from God to what I ask, want, or need, all I have to do is be soft and pliable, so God can mold me. That's all I need to do to be a delight to God, also.
     I asked the Lord to show me some verses that would give me more information on delighting in Him, because I don't want to miss it! He led me to Job (I know, I was surprised, too) 22:21-26, which says, "Yield now and be at peace with Him...receive instruction from His mouth and establish His words in your heart...return to the Almighty...remove unrighteousness far from [you]...then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God." 
     Look at the progression to delight:
1) Yield
2) Be at peace with God
3) Receive instruction
4) Establish the Word in your heart
5) Return to God
6) Remove unrighteousness
     It all starts with yielding, with being soft and pliable. So often, we try to "remove unrighteousness" in our own power, and it seldom works. If we begin with yielding, the peace comes. If we look to the Word, to receive it, to learn from it, and if we seek the Lord, we'll be able to remove the things from our life that harm us or do not help us, that keep us from having a right standing with God.
     With Jesus is fullness of joy, overflowing pleasure, ongoing delight. In thinking about how this relates to a God Gain lifestyle (which I choose to call this journey, rather than a Weight Loss program), in particular with eating, as I continue to "taste" the joy found only in Jesus, I won't go back to the temporary pleasure of overeating.

Today, think of yourself as clay in The Potter's hands. What kind of clay are you? Are you soft and yielded to The Potter's hands, or do you resist His work in your life? Watch the video "Clay," and enjoy the song. http://connect.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=93f046ff12095b5 c5668
Blessings,
Mary