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Articles by Chelsey Murphree

The Desires of Our Heart: Befriend Faithfulness

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4 seems a little short and simple to study for a full week, but the longer I sit with these two verses, the more I’m finding new troves of treasure in each of them. Truthfully, I find myself focusing on that last part – the Lord giving me the desires of my heart – with much more excitement and passion than I feel in the instructions before those words. I spend so much time chasing a calling or a desire of my heart, that I forget the instructions he has so beautifully laid out before me: Trust in Me. Do good. Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in Me. 

I’d love to spend this week together turning our attention to those things and seeing how the Lord transforms and grants us the desires of our hearts when we put things in their right order.

 

Befriend Faithfulness

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Psalm 37:3

ThursdayWhat beautiful words: “befriend faithfulness.” It creates a picture in my mind of walking hand in hand with faithfulness, of being known and being loved – a picture of me leaning upon faithfulness in the good and bad.

I’m learning that befriending faithfulness is as simple as befriending Jesus. He defines faithfulness, and it is because of Him that I know faithfulness. But what does it look like to truly befriend faithfulness?

It surely is not easy, and it’s not something that happens overnight. Befriending faithfulness is walking by faith and not by sight. It’s a sum of daily decisions that begin with trusting the Lord, trusting the journey, and praising God for His faithfulness to us.

Much like we have to spend time with people to build friendships, we must spend time being faithful in the smallest things to become more faithful.

To be a friend means to stick it out come hell or high water. One of my dearest friends is one who walked with me through four years of college—every high and low—and who has stood faithfully and joyfully beside me as I’ve been oceans away. Her faithfulness to our friendship has inspired me to grow in my faithfulness to her but to so many others. In the same way, looking to Jesus and His faithfulness to us should encourage us to grow more and more faithful.

To be a friend of faithfulness means to stand by and hold on, even when circumstances aren’t ideal. Befriending faithfulness means looking to Jesus first, even when life has robbed you of a job, a community, a home, or something you so deeply desired.

The deeper we learn the faithfulness of the Father, the deeper our faithfulness grows. It’s not easy because it requires daily commitment to the smallest things, but befriending faithfulness gives us the strength and the courage to trust, to do good, and to dwell in the lands that we have been given.

Let’s make faithfulness to God, His Word, our neighbors, families, and coworkers – let’s make that way of faithfulness our friend.

Chelsey

The Desires of Our Heart: Dwell in the Land

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4 seems a little short and simple to study for a full week, but the longer I sit with these two verses, the more I’m finding new troves of treasure in each of them. Truthfully, I find myself focusing on that last part – the Lord giving me the desires of my heart – with much more excitement and passion than I feel in the instructions before those words. I spend so much time chasing a calling or a desire of my heart, that I forget the instructions he has so beautifully laid out before me: Trust in Me. Do good. Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in Me. 

I’d love to spend this week together turning our attention to those things and seeing how the Lord transforms and grants us the desires of our hearts when we put things in their right order.

 

Dwell in the Land

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Psalm 37:3

 

SONY DSC“Dwell in the land…” has a little bit of a double meaning, I think. There’s the obvious physical meaning of committing your life and energy to where you are, not where you aren’t. Dwelling speaks of letting roots grow down, digging in, and settling in to stay. We are to live where we are and embrace the cities we live in. This physical sense of “dwelling in the land” is necessary to doing good. He has placed you in the your city and in your neighborhood because He wants you there to reveal the gospel, not because He wants you to hide out in holy huddles or perceived safety and comfort.

But, how do we “dwell in the land” while still being set apart and holy? How are we to be in the world, but not of it? I think it’s a heart issue. Rejecting the people around us because of their lifestyles, or choosing to simply talk about how terrible something or someone is without taking steps toward engaging in relationship and conversation with them is not what God has called us to do. Where do we see Jesus during his time of ministry on earth? With the people the church called offensive and unclean, unworthy and too messy.

We have to move outside of our realm of comfort to places of discomfort. We have to talk about faith and other issues. Most importantly, we have to relate with grace and love rather than going to war with the culture around us. This is how we remain set apart as we engage with the culture and the people in our hometowns and workplaces.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few years dwelling in a lot of different lands. For me, dwelling in the land has looked like learning the language, learning the culture, and participating in usual daily life according to the land I was living in, not demanding it change to suit my American way of life.

Learn the languages of the people around you – how do they express and receive love? What do they need to hear from you? How can you better communicate about Jesus and His love and forgiveness?

We also must learn the language of the One in whom we truly live – our Father. This verse speaks to our truest and deepest dwelling place with Christ. Where we truly abide is with the Father.

Learning His language means learning to listen to and discern His voice, and the only way we can do this is by spending time with Him. The more we learn His language, the greater ability He gives us to learn the language of those around us. As a result, the deeper our trust grows, and the more good He empowers us to do.

Chelsey

The Desires of Our Heart: Do Good

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4 seems a little short and simple to study for a full week, but the longer I sit with these two verses, the more I’m finding new troves of treasure in each of them. Truthfully, I find myself focusing on that last part – the Lord giving me the desires of my heart – with much more excitement and passion than I feel in the instructions before those words. I spend so much time chasing a calling or a desire of my heart, that I forget the instructions he has so beautifully laid out before me: Trust in Me. Do good. Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in Me. 

I’d love to spend this week together turning our attention to those things and seeing how the Lord transforms and grants us the desires of our hearts when we put things in their right order.

 

Do Good

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Psalm 37:3

TuesdayDoing good seems to be a pretty popular thing these days. People get behind causes and organizations they believe in, and everyone likes to know that what they’re investing in is doing more than simply bringing them pleasure.

We need to be constantly learning how to have the heart of Jesus when we are “doing good.” I’m a huge fan of the fair-trade movement. But my reasons for buying things that are fair-trade are more selfish than reflective of the heart of Jesus. It’s trendy; it makes me look like a good person to the rest of the world, and I get some really neat stuff.

In order to have the heart of Jesus we must first learn the heart of Jesus. In Scripture Jesus met needs, plain and simple. He healed people, he fed people, and he taught people. He sent them away with a message and an encounter with hope. He shared His life with others. He had water with the woman at the well and offered her life, and He reclined around tables with people that the religious world rejected and deemed unworthy.

Doing good with the heart of Jesus means that we may find ourselves in some uncomfortable situations, in the midst of someone’s uncomfortable story. Doing good with the heart of Jesus means that we show up – we show up with his love, his hope, and his open arms.

Jesus met needs and loved out of an endless well of supplies from the Father. All of us have the same access to this endless well of love and power. We can all meet needs and do good with who we are right now, what we have right now, and how we’re able to right now. So often we look to the future and talking about “our calling” and we forget that we are called to right now.

There are needs all around you, needs that Jesus sees and has chosen you to meet. There are refugees needing to learn English. There’s a church nursery that needs volunteers. There are people struggling through addiction recovery who need to hear your story. There are students who need someone to keep fighting for them. There’s a cashier who desperately needs to see a smile and hear a kind word.

All around you are opportunities to do good and share life and the heart of Jesus. Don’t lose sight of them!

Chelsey