All in Daily Devotion
When you are tired, or in need of shelter in a storm, where do you turn? When all is lost, and you can’t provide for yourself where do you find sustenance? At every turn you may be pursued by an enemy, but is there a strong tower where you can take refuge? The answer is yes, and no matter the circumstances it is forever true and dependable... we dwell in our Lord.
How often have you disobeyed God, and had calamity fall upon you? When this occurred, what did you do? How did you realign yourself with God, and experience His forgiveness and salvation? What did you promise the Lord in prayer to gain his deliverance from your time of suffering?
Why is it that we go to our knees at the altar before God? Why do we call out the name of Jesus and go down in the waters of baptism as He did? Do we truly believe, or do we come here out of a fear of what lies ahead? Maybe we think it is safe to purchase a ticket just in case this God stuff is all true? Ask yourself my friend; “Why do I come, or why did I come?” If it is for any reason other than true belief then you had better seek Him more diligently because He knows your heart.
Someone does you a good deed, and if you are a believer you might say “thank you”, but some might respond by wrongly saying “you have blessed me”, or “that was such a blessing!” In fact, no man can bless... only God. When Isaac gave his blessing to his son Jacob he couldn’t take it back because he had conceded to Jacob his own favored status with God. Who do you bestow your blessing on, or do you understand how important that is?
We are preparing ourselves for Lent, and during this Lenten season we will pray, deny ourselves, repent, and in quiver and contrition ask forgiveness for all our sins by God’s mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. As we ready ourselves, the story of Jesus plays out in our hearts, minds, and souls, and in remembrance of His promised return, we realize that He has never left, and will never leave us.
As we struggle through life, where do we look for our strength? Do we exercise our own bodies? Do we read self-help books to give strength to our minds and characters? If so, how is this working out for you? When we depend on our own devices, or books written by other men for our strength, we are never as strong as when God’s strength courses through us.
Do you like to try new foods, visit new places, meet new people? Well be careful, because such desires for newness and diversity can lead you astray when applied to your faith. Our love for Jesus shouldn’t require us to meet Him like a stranger every day, and we should resist the temptation to change Him in some way each time we visit Him, or redecorate His House every time we enter His door.
When you were a child, your mother and father comforted you in times of trouble, they would give you words of encouragement and quote bible verses to you, but now you are older, so who comforts you now? Where do you turn for relief from today’s trouble when you are filled with the worries of the world?
Are you in the midst of trouble and don’t know what to do? Perhaps you cry out to God in prayer for your provision or rescue, but when the answer doesn’t come in your own time you begin to doubt Him. Prayer... it is more than a revelation of our thoughts to God, it is a plea to be within His will. God answers prayer that isn’t at odds to His character, and that is conformed to who He is.
Is your life full of hardship and adversity right now? Are you going through the gates of sorrow, or crossing a desert in which you are feeling lost and parched? Perhaps it is illness, mourning, or some other wrenching moment! If so, then are you tempted to lash out at God and ask Him why, or to look for Jesus and cry out “Where Are You?” Sometimes we feel like we are being punished when nothing could be further from the truth.
Where do you make your home, and why? Is there a certain spiritual place that you simply visit from time to time, or have you found a place where God is, and made this your residence? Sometimes we live in a location because it suits our physical needs, or maybe because it is aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, but we should make our home where God is. We should never stray far from where our spirit converses with God.
Are you content and happy whatever your circumstances are, and wherever in life you find yourself? Do you find yourself equally at ease in a shack or a mansion? Jesus could dine in fine houses, speak to high priests and magistrates, or He could sit with the common people of the world; even the thieves, and prostitutes. What He felt about Himself wasn’t predicated upon how the world viewed Him, but how His Father saw Him. Paul was the same, and we should be as well.
On the day when victory has first been won, and we are just now saved and kneeling at the altar before Jesus, it is easy to sing of Him and give Him the glory He deserves. With our salvation just now secured, and the emotion of the moment fresh in our hearts we nearly burst with joy and long to carry Him on our shoulders, and in our hearts. But eternity is a long time and our emotion is known to fade, so how well will we glorify Him as we walk into the foreverness? Will the newness wear off, and the glory surrounding Him grow dim?
Over the course of our lives we will have many needs and we would like them all fulfilled well in advance so that we will not want, or worry about tomorrow. As human’s we want to fill a storehouse, or receive enough money in our bank account to make it through the toughest years of our lives, but that is not how God provides for us... He wants us to come to Him each day for that day’s provision.
We are the children of God, and what a wonderful realization that is. Being God’s children is being loved by the very heart, and the origination of all love... and this understanding is amazing beyond description. We might stand in awe of God’s power, but His love is His true strength, and our greatest joy.