Photo Credit: itsvintagedarling.com

Have you ever awakened with a heavy heart? Did you stay in that mood all day long? I can’t lie and say that I haven’t because I have done so for one reason or another.

Typically you will find me in a dress everyday. That’s just my style. Well, I opted to put on sweat clothes and call it a day. That was 5:30 this morning. As tired as I was, I knew that dressing to fit my current mood would likely keep me down so I changed clothes.

Click. “There’s no place like home.”

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with sweats. I just knew that I could not allow my unforeseen emotions to take me out of character. While my outer clothes do not define me, they do help in a sense because it’s cold and I wanted to be warm and cozy. Yet I changed because I have a long day ahead of me. Being too warm makes me lazy!

I digress.

Click. “There’s no place like home.”

The most important thing I could have adorned myself with this morning was a garment of praise. With that said I placed it on…….

Click. “There’s no place like home.”

The devil is a liar. He was not about to steal my joy. I choose this day to praise God no matter how I woke up feeling. I began to lift up my voice, stir up my spirit thinking on the goodness of the Lord.

While I have enjoyed watching the classic movie The Wizard of Oz over the years, I do not need to “click my heels” together to go back home. God lives within me and in Him I can have peace and restored joy. If anything, I go to my knees in prayer.

I opened up my Bible and began to read Psalm 84. How my heart rejoiced as a smile came across my face with such delight! The passages of scripture lifted me even more.

Let us read together….

The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You! (Psalms 84:1-12 NKJV)

There truly no place like Home when God is present with you. Today I encourage you to take heart and dwell in the blessed presence of the Lord our God. In Him we are welcomed in,comforted, fill with a feast of thanksgiving from the Holy Word and graced in abundance with the pouring of the Spirit.

Fill us Lord until our cup runneth over. Let Your love and presence cover us as a sweet-smelling fragrance as we sing praises to You! Blessed be Your name in all the earth.

Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days. (Psalms 90:14 HCSB)