{ Day 155 }

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.” —Psalm 118:1-4

We are loved by Him, and therefore, we are lovers of Him. That is our primary identity. From this perspective, life looks totally different because no matter what happens, a song fills our hearts, our spirits are stirred, and our inner man becomes tender toward God. I have set out to do risky ministry endeavors that the Lord called me to and have unexpectedly hit many brick walls. During such times the Lord makes clear to me that He does not want ministry or financial success to be our primary reward. He wants His Son to be our magnificent obsession, not the fact that we might preach to a stadium of one hundred thousand people and lead ten thousand to the Lord. The great news is that when your primary reward is in place, you can be in prison and still be successful. You can have the disappointments of a lifetime in your ministry and have people in the local church misunderstand you and write you off, but you will still be successful in your heart if loving Him and being loved by Him are your primary reward.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Loving You and being loved by You are all the reward I need. Keep me from allowing achievements or successes to be more important than Your love.

I know about ministry endeavors in which I felt as
if I had lost ground, even though I knew I was
in the will of God.