Joy and Trusting God

Trust in the Lord and do good.  Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your hearts desires.  (Psalms 37:3-4)

• What does it mean to take delight in God?  
• To take delight in the Lord means we must enjoy or take pleasure in God.  We can only do this if we get to know him well.  The more we get to know God and our knowledge of how much he loves us grows, the more joy and delight we will experience.  

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your path.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

• Letting go of our own desire to do things our way is very hard.  However, until we can release the controls of our life to God, we block our chances to grow, get to know, trust and have 100% joy in God.  
• God know what is best for us. We might think we know, but our selfish desires keep us from knowing what is best for us.  However, God is unwavering in his understanding of us and what is good in our lives. However, we must be willing to trust God.  How can we do this?
• We must be willing to take the choices we have in our lives to God.  There is nothing wrong with putting thought into choices this life brings us.  However, running those choices past God will solidify what directions we take in our life.  

1. Take your choices to him in prayer
2. Use the words of the bible (Gods instruction manual for our life) to guide you
3. Be willing to open your eyes and hearts to God leadership and trusting that he will direct your paths by both guiding and protecting you.  

Extra Reading:  John 10:1-18  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  (Remember, Jesus is the Shepherd and we are his sheep) so when you read this... put yourself in the place of the sheep.  

  “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

 ⁶ Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, ⁷ so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me^[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.^[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. ¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

 ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

 ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, ¹⁵ just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

 ¹⁷ “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. ¹⁸ No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”