Sweeter than the Day Before

by Maranatha Chapman

 

 

 

When you opened your eyes this morning, did you have joyful anticipation rise up within you as you looked at the day ahead? Do you believe that each new day can, in fact, be sweeter than yesterday? "How is this possible?" the world would ask. And yet you may be asking the same question. Are you someone who has some good days and some bad days and life just seems to be a cycle of ups and downs? Do you dread some of your days? If so, I have some good news for you: Our sweet Father has made a way in Jesus for us to abide in His life right now! Mere men (and even we Christians when we have our mind set on the flesh) believe that circumstances rule and decide the quality and the outcome of their day. But Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" (John 10:10), and His life, along with its abundance, is not contingent upon circumstances-it just is , always, in Him.

While there certainly are trials, limitations, hardships, hurts, and unforeseen events in life that are beyond our control, how we walk through all of our moments is determined by what we are choosing in our heart. The following are some things I have found that help in tapping into the sweet joyfulness of His life to the extent that "every day with Jesus" truly is "sweeter than the day before."

Fix your eyes on Jesus!

Jesus Himself is the only way, the only truth, and the only life (John 14:6)! Apart from Him, life is altogether futile and full of misery, hopelessness, and death, albeit peppered with a few fleeting "good times." Don't even try to live one moment without Him.

Think in terms of a literal race. You get tired if you have been running for a while, and some stretches of the path aren't very easy, in fact, the terrain can be very difficult at times. There is no hope in running if you just look at the pot holes you fall into or even at your own steps. It doesn't help to focus on the ones running beside you and compare your stride to theirs. And you definitely cannot be looking off at what is outside of the race. So where do we look? We keep our eyes on the prize. Fix your eyes on Him who is the Prize (Phil. 3:7-16).

There are ways we can train our heart to keep our gaze completely upon Him and not look anywhere else. When you wake up, look at Him! Don't start problem-solving or sorting through the practicals for the day. Don't even try to "get somewhere" spiritually. Just look at Him, praise Him, love Him, and be with Him. Then stay at that place-at His feet-all day long (Luke 10:38-42). When you find that you have taken your eyes off of Him, quickly return to gazing at Him with peaceful resignation (not guilt!). If you have to do that 1000 times a day, isn't He worth it?! In time, you will train "the eyes of your heart" to stay fixed upon Him continually. And when He is where you are focused, it doesn't matter what the day holds-whether tribulation, distress, persecution, or plain old normalcy-you are partaking of His life.

Die Daily

For us to experience the true life of the Spirit, we have to put our flesh to death every moment. There is no room for self-preservation. If you are hanging on to your rights, privileges, perks, and your own way, you will hate your life because you are living for yourself. Ask yourself these questions: Do I expect a break now and then? Am I trying to get some need in me met by my children? Do I have any goal or expectation outside of Jesus? Am I ever thinking about what I want? Someone who is denying themselves and laying down their life honestly doesn't walk around with strong preferences and a perpetual agenda. If you asked them what they need or want, they would probably wait on the Lord for the answer.

If you find yourself frustrated in your day, it is because you have a blocked goal-something you set up and decided would happen, but didn't. If you fight dying, just give up, surrender, and yield to the Lord. Whatever you are hanging onto, it is not worth it because it is keeping you from His life.

The Goal is Love

Set out to love, and "put on love" (Col. 3:14). One way to do this is to "consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near" (Heb. 10:24-25). If every member of your family is walking in love and continually looking for ways to express that love, you will have a continual love feast in Jesus happening in your home. Real loving is only in the kingdom of God , in His Spirit.

When your heart is full of love, it doesn't matter if you are pulling weeds, disciplining your children, or teaching math, it is an enjoyable abundant life in God. Whether you are with folks or all alone, your heart can be continually filled with love. You can find the Lord's compassion for various people and hold them up to Him in prayer and carry them before Him in intercession. You can look for ways to lay down your life for those around you. You can smile genuinely-that's a great way to love.

Something we do in our family-whether sitting around the table or driving down the road in the van-is play the "what I like about you" game. Whoever is "it," we tell them what we most currently like and enjoy about them or say what we see the Lord doing in their life. Everyone gets to participate and, if time permits, each one gets a turn to get loved on by everyone else. Even my two-year-old jumps in. She loves taking her turn with each one in the family and delivering her love.

We also like to sing to one another (Eph. 5:18-21, Col. 3:16). We have a few songs that we have made up that really minister His love to the one being sung to, and these songs are also very edifying to those doing the singing. There is hardly a way you can sing to each other without being open, vulnerable, childlike, and really loving. One evening this past week, we were driving back from town and it was getting late and the little ones were starting to get cranky. So Daddy picked our three-and-a-half year old daughter, Zion Hope, for all of us to sing one of these songs to-one called "Oh what a blessing you are to my life." We all looked at her and smiled and sang it to her. Then she said, "Let's sing it to Ezra," her six year old brother, so we did. Before long, we were all grinning and laughing, and everyone, after being sung to, ended up picking the next person for us to sing to. What could have been a tiresome, fussy drive home ended up being full of His life.

Another one of these songs allows us to take different families we know and sing each name in the family, from the Daddy to the youngest child, as a way of holding them up to the Lord. It goes like this..

And on and on the song goes for every family we can think of. My little ones love this song and it teaches them to consider and hold up others to the Lord. There have been specific times the Holy Spirit has really used this song as a prayer for various ones.

Redefine enjoyment

Joy is the key in this word "enjoyment." We can have joy in every situation throughout our day and throughout our life. We are commanded to "rejoice in the Lord always"-something that is very doable in Jesus-which includes "counting it all joy when we encounter various trials and temptations" (Phil. 4:4, 1 Thes. 5:16, James 1:2). See if you have categories for things you like (enjoy) and things you don't. Now see if your attitude changes when you have to do things that you don't "enjoy." If so, then you probably have a way of living in which you put joy on hold while you do things that either aren't fun or do not fit with your "enjoy" list.

For example, when we first bought the little 10 acre farm we previously lived on, it was covered with goat weed. Goat weed is a prolifically spreading pasture weed here in Central Texas that grows vigorously during the summer and goes to seed around the end of August or first part of September. Unless you deal decisively with it, it will spread, reseed itself and take over a field. You can either pay a lot of money for them to come spray your fields with chemicals or, if you do things organically like we do, you have to come up with another way. My husband's solution that first year was to get the family out in the fields together and pull it all up by the roots before it went to seed. (The next year, by the way, we had around 80% less goat weed, then, after pulling up the second year's crop in significantly less time, we had even less the third year such that it only took about an hour to rid our whole 10 acres of goat weed from then on!). Anyway, in and of itself, pulling goat weed in the dead of August on humid 100+ degree days is not enjoyable-it's itchy, tedious, boring, smelly, etc. But we were together as a family pulling up this stuff for hours and enjoying the Lord, each other, and our day tremendously. Joy is not about the actual things we are doing or the ever-changing circumstances of life, it is about what is going on inside of us as we are looking to Jesus, yielding, and following Him. This is a great life!

We have a single brother who has been staying with our family for the summer and he commented to us the other day that he really enjoyed how, with our family, it really did not matter what we were doing-whether riding in a poorly air conditioned van with non-functioning electric windows on a very hot day or packing boxes in preparation for a local move we are making or preparing dinner together-that every day truly is better than the day before. Why? Because there is Life! There is ever the joy of sharing Jesus' Life while we do whatever it is we're doing! His "ride" is the only ride to be on!

Be simple

Don't try to be "super parents" or the funnest mom in the neighborhood. Don't do some "song and dance" in order to motivate your children to do jobs around the house. Don't buy fancy gadgets and "cool" toys and new stuff in an attempt to keep life exciting. Don't fill your days with continual lessons, practices, games, get-togethers, field trips, etc., to keep boredom at bay. Just "be" in Him.

Our Lord has called us to "be still and know" that He is God (Ps. 46:10). Train yourself and your children to be content with a simple, simple life. Strip it down and prune it back if you have to, but know that the more junk you own and the more junk you "have" to do, the more death you will have. This world has nothing for us! His life is all about abundance (John 10:10), but you have to continually look into an unseen realm with pure unworldly eyes in order to see His overflow of life and appreciate it. My 13 year old daughter, Lauren, recently wrote a song about the Lord's abundance, but the key in the song has to do with surrendering. One of the verses and the chorus goes like this.

I leave behind everything, just trusting

That as I pour out You will pour in.

I set it all aside, as I empty You will fill.

Consume every place within my heart!

Chorus:

How deep this River of Living Water !

Always rushing, always moving!

As the beauty of it carries me-

When I surrender, I know

You've called me to abundance!

Our way is bland and fruitless, and always ends in loneliness and destruction. His way is full. He "lavishes" His grace, His love, and His life on us (Eph. 1:3-8, et al.). We come to Him with our huge-feeling but, in reality, "thimble-full" of need, and He dumps an ocean of Life upon us. He doesn't give us crumbs, He gives us a feast every day-even if we are in difficult circumstances.

Don't complain

This is simple but crucial: do not allow yourself or your children to complain, grumble, or be critical. If the weather is gloomy gray and the humidity is unbearable, thank Him-genuinely thank Him! "This is the day that the Lord has made," isn't it? Don't "dog" what He has brought forth and allowed-He is perfect in all of His ways!

I was running errands with a dear friend recently and every time we got somewhere it began pouring down rain "in buckets." We got completely drenched about three times. Our hair was completely wet like we had just gotten out of the shower, and our clothes were soaked from running through these downpours that would not let up as well as the puddles and rushing water runoff in the parking lots. We could have griped and fretted and gotten all worked up, but instead, we laughed our heads off. We were like two little girls playing in the rain and we used the opportunity to enter the kingdom and abide in Jesus (Matt. 18:2-3). We ended up having a wonderful time together enjoying the Lord, each other's fellowship, and His sweet shower of love.

Don't choose to allow spills, breaks, interruptions, sickness, burned food, leaky faucets, stinky trash, shortage of money, lack of sleep, endless phone calls, flat tires, fussy babies, or anything else "ruin your day." What power do these things really have over us if our eyes are on Jesus? "In everything give Him thanks," and find what He has for you in every circumstance. Some of these trial-filled days end up being my favorites because I get to see more of Him showing His strength through my weakness.

 

So when you wake up tomorrow morning, look at Jesus first thing and never stop doing so. Seek Him, incline your ear to Him, be about Him only, "make no provision for the flesh," and "put on love" (Rom. 13:14, Col. 3:12-14). Practice "acknowledging Him in all your ways" and receiving everything as ultimately being [allowed] from His hand. I can tell you without any doubt in my mind that it will be the best day! And then you get to do it again tomorrow!

Kindling Publications

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