By Bunni Pounds

*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.

How we relate to this life can really determine our happiness. 

What will we pursue?  

What is important? 

Our eternal hope and portion can either be in HIM – Jesus – or in what the world can give.  

Here is the contrast spelled out in Psalm 17:

“men of the world who have their portion in this life” (verse 14a) 

OR

“As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” (verse 15)

Walking with Jesus is much more than just waiting for Him to come back and whisk us away into heaven. There is a purpose, as the verse above says – to be in His likeness. 

To be Christlike is the ultimate purpose of our lives, and if we lose sight of that vision and hope – then we will stumble and fall into a lesser vision for our lives. 

“Concerning the works of men, By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of destroyer. Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip.” (verse 4-5) 

By the grace of God and the WORD of God – God keeps us, makes our paths straight and keeps us from falling into big, big holes of destruction. 

When we look around our world and see divorces everywhere, alcoholism, poverty, and chaos – we must cling to the Word of God and His grace to make it through to the other side, but I believe we need to raise our eyes for a higher calling much more than just survival and maintaining as believers – Christlikeness. 

If we raise our vision and our eyes to see HIS FACE – we are changed.  

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 – “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Freedom in the Spirit – LIBERTY – is not a covering for us to do whatever we want. It is the power of God to be transformed into His image from glory to glory by His Spirit.  

This is the shift the Body of Christ needs to make right now. 

Let me be strong here - We are settling!

We are settling for a mediocre life of just survival and “stumbling” instead of spending time in Jesus’ presence and crying out to be LIKE HIM. God has so much more for us than where we are living right now. 

What really changes us though? How do we get transformed? 

I think the answer is found in this Psalm as well – verse 8 – “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.”

Do you know YOU are the apple of His eye? 

Do you know that you belong? That you are wanted and loved. 

You are HIS FAVORITE KID. 

When we have a revelation of our true identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Most High God – the King – it changes everything about our lives. 

If a mysterious man came to your house and told you that they had just discovered that you were a long lost relative of Queen Elizabeth, and that you were part of the monarchy – do you think that would change your life? 

Of course it would. 

You would hop on a plane – leave your meager lifestyle of working 9 to 5 and start living in luxury – strolling through gardens, eating whatever you want, buying expensive clothes, and being celebrated around England. 

Revelation always changes our reality, IF we allow it to. 

You could, of course, tell the man from England that you didn’t want to live like royalty, and you would choose to stay in your middle-class existence in America. He would say “fine” and walk away – knowing full well that you were making a stupid choice and not choosing the lifestyle that could bring you more stability and freedom to be and do whatever you wanted. 

This is often how we treat God. We look at His desires for us to live free from sin, rich in His love, and full of purpose and destiny and we say, “I am ok where I am. Thank you, but my life is fine.”

It is a crazy response – when we could live free, full of power and destiny, just like Jesus did. 

Romans 6:20-23 “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How we live is a choice.

Will we choose His righteousness and Christlikeness or a lesser existence? 

The message of Psalm 17 is the difference between the two and is meant to raise our vision.

Will we receive the message?

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