Youth Renewed

 Happy Sunday!

"The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].  Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.  [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment]. [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."(Psalm 92:12-15 Amplified).

The Word of God makes me happy!  Just reading the passage above was enough to make me smile!  I remember being 15 years old, and hearing that someone was 35 and thinking that was really, really old.  LOL!  Give it a few decades and now at 57 years old, I'd say a 35 year old is just a baby.  The Word says the righteous are not deteriorating, but they are flourishing.  They are not useless, but they are useful.  Moses didn't start his ministry until he was in his eighties, and he lived to be 120 years old.  I'm not saying that you should wait until you are 80 to start, but don't shrink back even if you are 80. 

In Psalm 91:16, God says, "I will give my followers a long life and show them my power to save.”(Easy-to-Read Version).  In Isaiah 58:11, He promises, "The Eternal One will never leave you; He will lead you in the way that you should go. When you feel dried up and worthless, God will nourish you and give you strength. And you will grow like a garden lovingly tended; you will be like a spring whose water never runs out."(Voice).  Don't miss this!  What an awesome visual, "like a spring whose water NEVER runs out".  Psalm 103:5 says, "He gives us plenty of good things. He makes us young again, like an eagle that grows new feathers."(Easy-to-Read Version).  Now, I'm no ornithologist, but I have read about molting.  During the molting process the eagles old feathers fall out and are replaced with new ones.  This reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new."(Phillips).

I'm expecting a bright future, and I've got God's Word on it!  "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."(Joshua 1:8 NIV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia