All in Daily Devotion
Just as we pray for our physical wellbeing, we should also pray for our hearts, minds, and souls. It is so easy to concentrate on the outward pains and the worldly needs of our physical selves, but the worst of all pain emanates from our heart, and our spirit; they are born of a damaged faith. They well up in us from an aching deep within our soul. We see the wounds made to our flesh, but is our soul bleeding, and suffering today?
Our lives are ever changing, and no matter how hard we try to control them they will always be set upon by outside forces beyond our control. Not even the sweetest times of faith go without looking up to find a looming challenge on the horizon, because as we experience life we lean on God in various new ways, and through this we come to a fresh understanding of Him in the process. How well we know God seems to depend on how fully we have lived our life.
Are there those we know who were called by God, and stood before Jesus to profess their faith, just as we did, but have since fallen away? Well, how do we treat them? Do we shun them, look down on them, and make them to feel unwelcome in our midst? Do we judge them, and stand firmly between them and God at the moment they might desire to reconcile themselves? Do we feel that we are the guardians of the sanctuary, and defenders of God Himself? Woe to us who keeps one of God’s children from Him.
We read the Bible, and study God’s Word, but is doing so a joy? Reading the Bible can be a daunting task because, depending on the translation, the language can be challenging, the meaning behind certain passages (such as parables and stories) can be difficult to interpret, and quite honestly there are lists, and long genealogies, in the Bible that put many readers off. Let’s be truthful... reading the Bible is not as entertaining as reading “The Arabian Nights”, or “Aesop’s Fables”, but no other book can have such an impact on who we are, thrill us with its revelations, or save our souls. The joy comes when we open our hearts, minds, and souls, to God through His Word.
Do we think of ourselves as a worthy treasure to be presented to God? Are we inclined to consider that we are like gold, silver, or fine jewels that He is eager to have refined, cut, or molded, and placed in His treasure chest, to be displayed with pride? Well, God does value us, and he does refine us, but not as we might think, He doesn’t purify us simply by education, works, or charm school, but in the furnace of our affliction. The spiritual worthiness that He sees in us is like a faint line of gold in a predominately dark stone... and we must be crushed into submission before it can be released, and purified.
We say that Jesus abides in us, and we in Him. We also say that He abides In the Father, and the Father in Him. Believing these statements to be scripturally true, and claiming them for ourselves, then we must also believe that the scripture which says that God is light, and in Him is no darkness is truth too. So, the first statements tell us that by abiding in Jesus we too abide in the light of God, and that He is in us as well, but where will our continued sinning leave us? Do these jaunts into the darkness separate us from God? Are we choosing our humanity over our spiritually transformed selves; darkness over light?
Are we working in unison with the Holy Spirit within us as he washes, transforms, and renews us, or do our human frailties cling to the sins of the old man, and slow to a crawl, or stop, our regeneration? Are we cheerful learners, or do we reluctantly bend to the will of God as His Spirit scrubs us clean?
As people of varying degrees of spirituality we have different prayer habits. Some of us come to God many times a day, some come only in the morning, others in the evening, and there are those who only pray on days like Christmas and Easter, but rest assured we all find time to pray when we are in need, or hurting. So which is right? Well, there is no wrong prayer, but scripture tells us to pray without ceasing, because God loves us and desires us to be with Him just as He is with us... always.
Are we content with what God gives us? You might think that I am speaking of physical provision, but this question applies equally to spiritual gifts. Do we look at what others have and envy them? Well, in many instances, having much can be a curse, leading to discontent, a lust for more, and the sin of worshipping other gods. It is best that we have little, and to be satisfied with what we have, than to have much and worship those things as we work to have more of them.
Are we holding firm to our faith in Jesus Christ as the world boils and evil seeks to destroy the peace and rest of God in us? In the midst of the world’s darkness that is stirring strife, even from the pulpits, there shines forth a light, and in that light we find not only our life, but the light which is the life of the world... Jesus. He is unlike every lamp, or torch, because He can’t be extinguished, not by deception, lies, or any other sin. He has defeated these through His own life, death, and resurrection, and His brightness lights our way as we navigate the darkness of the fallen world, even death, that surrounds us.
When we are in a serious dilemma do we find ourselves doubting in God’s ability to help us? When we are surrounded on all sides by a horde who would harm, or destroy us, do we feel lost? Well, fear not because our God is more than capable, and it is our own disbelief that prevents us from from seeing Him clearly, and witnessing His heavenly host that surrounds us... too numerous to count.
We go through our day working hard to secure those things that will sustain us, but as we complete today’s chores we often forget the one who has made this possible, and who actually provides for us. Over the course of time we tend to forget who gave us the skills we now employ, or even the breath we breathe, and we claim our efforts as our own. Our faith is like a cathedral that is still under construction after hundreds of years; the amazing foundation stones given by God when the ground was first broken are long forgotten, and only what has just been added is praised. The Lord provides for His children now as He gives us every good thing... building today on the blessings of yesterday.
What rain would fall on our field of faith to nourish it, and what wind would blow hard to prune the old limbs from the tree of our belief, if all of life was filled with cool sunny days, and light variable winds? If each day was easy, and replete with every wonderful thing how would we choose to live our life, and what would encourage our faith to grow? Suffering the Cross gave Jesus victory over sin and death, enduring the hardships and injustice of life in the world strengthens our faith, righteousness, and encourages us to love God all the more.
How do we approach a poverty of faith? How do we claim God’s grace as it flows from Christ, when we are suffering from a loss inside our individual souls? These are issues swirling within something that I call “the dilemma of the enemy.” This is the mystery found in loving someone, or something, that by all rights should be our enemy. It occurs between us, and people, peoples, races, and nations, and yet when boiled down to its essence is particular to a man’s singular soul alone. Peoples, or groups, don’t have the ability to hate others, this larger manifestation comes from a single person giving in to hatred, and spreading that hate to another, and another, and another.
When we are going through a trying time in our life how do we react to it? Do we worry, and stress, over what is occurring to the point that our health is affected, or do we turn to the Lord, and trust in Him to calm the turbulence that is buffeting us? Fear is a natural occurrence in life, but too much of it is detrimental to our wellbeing. God looks after His children, and can fix any problem that is tossing us about, but is our faith strong enough to trust in Him, and do we do His will?