All in Daily Devotional
Today I was contemplating Oswald Chambers' offering for this day, when suddenly I was overcome by the thought that each morning I get up and enter into prayer without really knowing where God will be taking me that day. My life of faith is more than a journey... it's an adventure.
My devotional reading this morning was titled "Let Us Keep To The Point", and builds on Oswald Chambers' personal challenge of giving "My Utmost for His Highest". It presses the argument that we should yield to God's will always, and in every instance... without question. The apostle Paul likewise instructs the Philippians on living in the will of God as we live our lives. He speaks to them of living a life with Jesus and aligning ourselves with God's perfect will... without fear of death.
It is almost sad to be completing our study of "The Power of Prayer" by E. M. Bounds this morning... But I realize that it isn't actually the end, and that tomorrow morning I will begin my daily offerings anew with many of our lessons on prayer guiding me.
I was incredibly blessed by my devotional reading today which was titled, "The Mark of God". In my reading, Pastor E. M. Bounds wrote that through our faith in Jesus, and our prayers, God does give Himself, His presence, and His grace to us... through them we receive His mark, and sign. There are physical marks of God, and spiritual marks of God, but none is any more powerful than those of prayer which can leave both on us. Physical marks on our knees, feet, and foreheads, and spiritual marks left by answered prayer on our souls and behaviors such as the marks of love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
As we draw near to completing this year of studying the subject of prayer I have been contemplating a statement that I read this morning during my time of devotion. It involves both our receipt of God's answer to the prayers we have prayed, and also how we justify our not having received an answer after we’ve asked Him for something.
Today I read a devotional message titled "The Convincing Truth". In this message Pastor E. M. Bounds spoke of the real glory of our prayers, and our right relationship with God that leads us to glorify Him through our prayers. As I thought on this subject, my mind wandered back. I recalled a night years ago when I went to my intercessory prayer meeting and something incredible happened...
We are drawing near to the end of another year, and so is the devotional book (“The Power of Prayer” by E. M. Bounds) that I have been reading. But there are still a few more days before I will begin rewriting and editing my past thoughts on another devotional classic… “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. However, this year isn’t quite complete yet and this morning Pastor Bounds presented us with two key points in his message on experiencing a prayerful relationship with God, the first being that answered prayer is the evidence of God's existence, and the second is that answered prayer is proof of a right relationship with God. This is how Bounds expressed himself and where it led me…
It is the 26th of December... The day after Christmas. For those of us who are parents we know that the day following the birth of a baby is a day of rest and recovery for mother and child. Birth is a wonder, but it is also traumatic. During the time of Jesus when all women gave birth naturally (without pain killers) it would have undoubtedly been even more so. So it is that on this day we take a deep breath and relax with our loved ones. Some of us will be healing after being on our feet too long yesterday. And a few will be spending their day repairing damaged relationships from "honest?" words, or otherwise rejuvenating their tired selves. Much like the day following the birth of our own children, there will be a sense of peace and calm about this day.
One Christmas Eve morning, a weather front moved into Nashville in the wee hours before dawn. As is my custom, I was already awake and praying when the rain began to fall by the buckets full. Then, while listening to the wind and the sound of the rain beating on the awning over our deck, I was overcome by my thoughts of Christmas and the way that Jesus Christ came to wash us clean of sin.
On this day, Christmas Eve, I am contemplating my morning devotional reading and am not surprised by its subject... Rejoicing! In this season of hope, and as we prepare for the crescendo of our joyous celebration tomorrow, it seems only fitting to contemplate rejoicing as we anticipate the joyous birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah!
Today we will touch on two specific topics that speak to me, the first is Satan's sly desire to take the joy of victory from us once he has lost the battle for our soul, and the second is the ineffectiveness of money, and things, to win the souls of the lost to Jesus.
Yesterday we considered the effect that worry had on our bodies, minds, and souls, so today let’s delve deeper into the peace of God and the effect that prayer has on worry and stress. I am contemplating two of these thoughts this morning as I read Philippians 4 once again and read further into what Pastor E. M. Bounds has to say on this subject.
My devotional reading this morning began with an incredibly insightful statement. Pastor E. M. Bounds began by writing "Worry is the epidemic evil of mankind. Everybody is influenced by worry.", and as I thought about this observation, I came to the conclusion that He was so right. We do worry about many things in our lives... even everyday things. It made me think of my mother who was the consummate worrier. I would often tease her by saying that if she didn’t have something of her own to worry about, she would borrow someone else’s troubles and worry about those. I am making worry sound trivial, but it isn’t. Let’s visit this subject today.
The message in my morning devotional reading was an interesting one... There have been times when I have listened to missionaries speak at church only to wonder if they truly received the call. There was a sense of the adventurer about them, but not a spirit of prayer and godliness. Sometimes this is evident in what they present as their accomplishments while fulfilling what they believe to be the “Great Commission” ... They speak of doing good things like building homes, working in healthcare, or performing other such concrete worldly deeds. They speak of saved lives but there is no talk of saved souls. They speak of works that any moral man might accomplish, but where is Jesus in them? What I hear sounds at best like a pilgrimage or personal spiritual vacation. What is the great commission really? Let’s explore this.
People like to hear that whatever they ask for in prayer they will receive; but having stipulations placed on those desires? Well, not so much. So when Jesus tells us that if we abide in Him He will give us what we ask for many who pray tend to gloss over what abiding in Him actually means. This concept of abiding is one that is often misunderstood, you see, we are not meant to be spoiled little children who will ask for extravagant things and throw fits when we don’t get them, or who test our parents by asking them for things that go against everything they stand for, or that they know will ultimately be harmful. Many believers believe they can behave this way and do this as if their desires outweigh all of God’s wisdom, and even His will. Today let’s look at abiding in Jesus, and the importance of the will of God. Our opening scripture verse is from John 15, and one that people quote quite often as if trying to corner Jesus in legality.