All in Daily Devotion
We pray for others, sometimes for their salvation, but also in their other needs. Has anyone ever asked that you pray for them, or have you volunteered to do so only to walk away and never offer the first word in prayer? Perhaps you simply forgot, maybe you were too busy, or just maybe you said yes to the request just to placate them, and never intended to pray. Did you realize that this is not Christlike, and can even be sinful?
How often in the course of our lives does the Lord ask us to do something for Him but we turn our heads because we don’t think we are able? In such moments do we convince ourselves that what we heard couldn’t have been from God because He knows we can’t possibly do this? Yet I ask, is that really true?
Are you suffering in some manner today? Do you have a disease of the body that plagues you, trouble at your job, people that oppress you, or is there constant worry, broken relationships, or some other hardship stalking your every thought? So many issues exist in our daily lives that can distract us from our faith, and the joy, peace, and comfort that awaits us there, but when we turn our attention towards Jesus He conquers some, and gives us peace in the others... He overcomes the daily issues, and stresses in our lives with God’s love and goodness.
Are we lost, and attempting to overcome the worldly nature that has taken hold of us? Do we think that by doing certain works, or behaving in a moral manner, that we can draw ourselves out from the vile nature of the world, which is sin? Well, there is only one way we can overcome the world, and that is by believing, and having faith, in Jesus Christ... the Son of God.
We are inclined to worship the Lord and remind ourselves that He is with us always. It is our natural inclination to do this because we are weak, our lives so fleeting, and we need Him continuously, but how often do we pause and think to ourselves... “I will never abandon my God!”? Do we say this silently in our own minds, or exclaim it LOUDLY to God, the world, and to our children?
We are all sinners, but how wonderful it is that we have the opportunity to behold the Lamb of God. He is our hope, and without Him we would most certainly be lost. This is Jesus who has taken away the sin of the world. Have we met Him, or does he remain unknown to us? Men continue to seek Him, and ask these questions... Will He end my struggles, if not then will He help me through them, or is He asking the impossible of me?
How are we living our lives? Are we living as the Spirit directs us, or are we living in the world, and for the world? Do we pray to obtain from God those things that bring Him glory, or for those things that are simply of the world, and that make us more comfortable in it? We must decide if we will live our life spiritually as the sons and daughters of God, or live it according to the flesh and die... what is our choice?
It is so ironic when we forecast, pick, our own punishment, or the path of our spiritual lesson. Have you ever been wrestling with a sin you have committed and while you did so said something like this to yourself? “If God hadn’t meant for me to do this He would/wouldn’t have _________!” Then almost immediately that very thing you said He would or wouldn’t do proves to be your undoing? Saying such things is almost always followed by a lesson, revelation, and in the midst of our ensuing suffering, a prayer for forgiveness. What word(s) did you insert? Was it “let me do it”?
As we go through life, even the life of a staunch believer, how much attention do we pay to glorifying God? If a pastor is building up a church and it fails, he is disappointed, embarrassed, and even humiliated, but does he feel these things for God, or for himself? If a man prays he asks for many things, but how few are meant to glorify God, and how many for his own need, and glory? All we do should be done to glorify God; this is what Jesus taught us.
Have you heard people say that our faith is dynamic and is ever changing with the world? Do you watch as the very tenets of our faith are confronted, and churches adjust them to suit the ebb and flow of society’s whims? Well that reasoning is not truth, and places our will, and the world’s views above God’s will, and the teaching of Jesus Christ.
When we are afraid where do we turn? When we are lost, threatened, or our world appears to be collapsing, where do we look for deliverance? In our confusion who do we look to for wisdom and guidance? If we turn to man, or to our own counsel, then we are teetering on the brink of disaster, but when we look to God, then our path is made straight, and the outcome of every challenge in life will most certainly be good.
We have no idea what the innocence of Adam and Eve was like before the fall. Oh, we can try to imagine it, but every thought we have is tainted by the flavor of sin. The knowledge of good came to them as promised by the serpent, but had evil as its dark shadow, and changed them, and us, forever. So now we work, and we suffer as we seek to recover in Christ what was lost in the Garden that day.
We travel the sandy wilderness of life, time, and across the perilous pits of sin; like skittering ants we run because the way ahead is fraught with danger. The funneled traps of ant lions have been constructed everywhere to bring us to our demise as we seek the holiness, and righteousness of God... these traps are the work of Satan, but we are instructed to clothe ourselves each day in the armor of God, and promised to be defended by His strong right arm... so that in His care we can walk boldly in faith, and find His truth sustains us against Satan’s schemes.
God sent His Son, Jesus died for us, we accepted Him as our Lord, and now we are set free from our sin... so what is left for us to do? Some say “nothing!”, that all of this, including eternity in God’s house, is simply a gift. They are right in a way, because it truly is a gift, but once we have accepted these things, it is our place to give thanks for them, and appreciate by our love and service, the efforts of the giver. In many worldly situations we are indebted to the one who gives us a gift, and in faith we feel the same. The difference is that on earth we serve out of obligation, but in faith we serve out of love.
Is Jesus the Christ to you? Are you so convinced of this fact that there is no other option for you except to follow Him, or face death? Does Jesus represent the singular truth and the one real way to joy, eternity, and an eternal relationship with God? Does He bring you some promised future life, or do you find a joyous life In Him now? So I say all of this to ask you one question... if Jesus is the Messiah, and He has promised you abundant, and eternal life, doesn’t that abundance, and eternity, begin for you the moment your faith in Him is sealed?