VISUAL Motivation

You can live a life of peace because your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God will give you the courage to believe in Him for help to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of life's daily trials. A made up mind with a determination to succeed can bring about a state of victory even when facing adversities.

But when we walk through our dark valleys --- and in many instances we feel like we are trapped on a dark road of doom and gloom --- then who else are we going to turn to? Where else can we go? Our eyes may only see failure. And our humanity is bombarded by everything in our carnal nature to give up and face shame and defeat. Indeed, only Jesus can inspire us to keep on believing in His mercy, grace, and love that will give us another push for continuing with the Lord.

The Psalmist, David, in the Book of Psalm 23, started out by unashamedly declaring that the Almighty God was his shepherd who will always provide for his needs. Therefore, verse 1 reads: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. But to expand on David's bold declaration, let's use the version of the Amplified Bible which reads: The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. However, as we focus on verse 6 of Psalm 23, let's use a portion of the King James Version which reads: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And let us, also, examine David's testimony when he concluded with the emphatic words that there will be a legacy of God's goodness and mercy upon his life.

For we walk by faith and not by sight --- not by what we can feel, hear, touch, nor see. It should be a spiritual walk with the Lord based on the knowledge and understanding of God’s will and promises for His obedient children. Walking by faith is more than just attending church faithfully and regularly. After all, walking by faith alludes to being a dedicated believer --- faithful, loyal, cooperative, and obedient. And as we walk by faith, the sincere acknowledgment of God’s wisdom is a constant reminder to keep on trusting Him to direct our paths in every way.

We endeavor to give thanks unto the Lord because we are overwhelmed with gratitude for all that He has done for us. We praise Him. We love Him. We adore Him. And we will give Him thanks, on a daily basis. Giving thanks unto the Lord should not be only because of the the exhortation from the Word of God, but also because of the knowledge that our God deserves the honor and glory; and should be praised. We should always be praising Him and continue in giving thanks unto the Lord. So, we give thanks with a grateful heart. And our thankfulness will be unto the Most High, our Heavenly Father, closest friend, divine teacher, and personal Savior. The profound words of Psalm 105:1 should always resonate within our hearts with the exhortation and encouragement: Oh, give thanks to the Lord! We should try to have the mindset and a readiness to be always giving God thanks, irrespective if life is good or bad.