Verse of the Day - Psalm 94:18

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. ~ Psalm 94:18 (NIV)

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Psalm 94 is mostly about the success of the wicked against the righteous, yet God's ability to set things right again in His time, and that He will never abandon His children. Then he says...

Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?

Unless the LORD had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

When I said, "My foot is slipping,"
your love, O LORD, supported me.

When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul. ~Psalm 94:16-19 (NIV)

Whether he was sinking into the pit of despair, or slipping into vengeful and malice thought and intent, I'm not totally sure. The point is that he recognized God's spiritual intervention in his life. He sensed God's love for him and listened to the Father comforting His heart. He paid attention to God, and he was rescued...

The problem with mental spiraling is that we begin to listen to the devil and his lies instead of God and His truth. It's happened to me many times. Once I head down that slippery path of negative and self-destructive thought, the slope gets steeper and I slide faster into the pit. And the pit is filled with lies...

The Psalmist gives us a great example to follow. I believe he must've been very conversational with God. And he was honest in his dialogue. He told God he was slipping...not covering up his weakness. And he didn't wait until he'd sunk into the pit and wallowed in the filth of the devil for days...he reached out when he first recognized that something wasn't right within him. And in that reaching out to God in honesty, he reached out to the only real help he had. The only real help we have.

I pray that we can know the freedom of complete open and honest dialogue with God, holding His hand as we walk this life. If you begin to slip, don't let go of His grip from fear or guilt. Talk to Him -- be honest about where your heart and mind are going. And be ready to listen, because He is the Great Counselor, and He will feed you truth that will help you get your footing again. If you choose to let go of His hand, the slide into the pit will be swift and sure, and it's harder to hear His voice way down there.

So stay close to Him...stay connected...be real...be dependent.

Now just the other day I overheard a flower talking to the sky
He said you know that I would be nothing without You, oh, oh
He said you give me rain, you give the sun a place to shine
You're everything that my whole existence comes down to, oh, oh
And then the flower started singing a song
Before I knew it I was singing along
And we sang…

This is my declaration of dependence
This is my declaration of my need
This is my declaration of dependence
On the one who gave His life to me

Now, let me say that I'm the kind of guy who wants to do it all myself
Don't want to ask for help, don't like to stop for directions, oh, oh
But in reality I'm nothing on my own
It's by God's grace alone that I can make this confession
All that I am and all I'm hoping to be
Is all and only what He's given to me
So I say…

This is my declaration of dependence
This is my declaration of my need
This is my declaration of dependence
On the one who gave His life to me

And I know this is how my life was meant to be
I was made for this dependency
On the one who has created me
So I'll sing my declaration song
For the one I am depending on…
~ Declaration of Dependence, by Steven Curtis Chapman

Love,
Joelene