The Pearl of His Presence

In His presence is fullness of joy, and in His right hand there are pleasures forever more.  Psalm 16:11

  Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Psalm 51:12

Joy is the pearl Jesus gave me today.

Spa days, vacations, camping, fishing, hunting (for some of you 🙂 ) pedicures, manicures, even a good hair cut; these kind of activities can bring us rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.  Unfortunately, when it’s over- it’s over and it’s back to REAL LIFE.

When I get stressed, I instinctively know I need to de-stress.  But how do I go about doing it?  Hmmm, chocolate anyone?  Reading? Distracting my mind with a movie (with a happy ending 🙂 )  Ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.  Crying?   Reflecting on my coping skills (sadly inferior aren’t they? 🙂 ) I realize they are from a “hunker down” mentality instead of being  pro-active.

 If there is joy to be found in His presence,

I need to take a walk with the Shepherd to green pastures.

I’m finding I need to take a literal walk and a spiritual walk.  I need to physically move away from my environment, get my body moving, and take a “I’m going to see how this situation can be changed” attitude, instead of marinating my worries.  Spiritually, I need to change my environment.

[Tweet “Green Pastures are just 1 mental turn, 1 heartfelt prayer away.”]

 Music is my footpath to green pastures with the Shepherd.  Not just any music for me, in truth, I need music where the words point me to Jesus.  Other music is enjoyable but fun isn’t what I really crave.  I yearn for His joy- and it can only be found in His presence.

ITunes allows me to create groupings of a myriad of Christian music.  I have  music to clean by :),  music for my devotion time, music to dance with Bethany, Finley, and Cohen, (we love to jump and dance to VBS songs), and music for reflection and worship.

The point is- I’ve learned what my quickest pathway is to the Shepherd and therefore JOY- anytime I want to go there….

Find your pathway to Green Pastures and the Shepherd- He’s waiting to surround you with His presence and joy.

  “The joy of the Lord is my strength”  Nehemiah 8:10

For more on Green Pastures– go to the link http://surprisingtreasures.com/2010/09/green-pastures/