All in Daily Devotional
What do we do when our memory fails us? Are there repercussions to forgetting? What are the certain things that Jesus has asked us to remember, and are there particular things that God asks us to remember as well? Does God remember everything, or does He actually forget some things? Is it good when we forget? Do we?
When do we rejoice and when do we mourn? Is there really a spiritual separation or difference? Are we meant to give God the glory for the good times and ignore or blame Him for the bad or painful ones?
Living our lives with Jesus is more than attaching a series of disjointed moments that are separated by periods of time in which He has been absent from us into something we would like to call faith. God is never here and then gone but is with us always and in all things. Our Lord Jesus doesn't abandon us to our own devices only to return once we have royally screwed things up. God is with us always, and Jesus said that He would be with us until the end of the age. Are we with them too?
When should we pray? Do we even know what to pray for? These sound like easy questions to answer and indeed one of them is... do you know which one? If I were to ask you to kneel with me right now, how would you begin? Would you begin to pray as you have always prayed before, or would you pray about something that was occurring in your life right now? Would you follow the same regiment or order of prayer that you always have, or let go of the old and familiar by beginning to pray as if God was a newfound friend or with an intensity and expectation that you hadn’t prayed with for a long time?
Is what God is doing, or not doing, in your life a frustrating mystery? Do you pray for a certain thing repeatedly, but it just doesn’t seem that you are being heard? How about the troubles in your life? Does God's plan for you regarding them stump or escape you? Well don't feel alone, because many have faced this challenge through the years. Many have asked Him “Why Lord” and “When Lord?” So, let's explore these puzzling spiritual questions today.
Is our relationship with God all we have of real value in our life? Have we given up ourselves to Him, or do we think that we are a bargain for God at any price? The least of our thoughts, in which we consider ourselves to be of value or to be a necessity to our Heavenly Father, removes us from His hand and casts us spiraling downward by having believed ourselves to be worthy as He is of glory.
Has God called you to Himself, or is He calling you this morning? By virtue of the fact that you have chosen to read this devotional lesson today I would say He has. Maybe you thought you were choosing Him, but in fact He has chosen you. Does this thought surprise you, or even frighten you?
Are you experiencing hardship in your life right now? Is there a problem at work, a health issue, the loss of a loved one? There are so many issues that plague us in life, and being a Christian doesn't exempt us from them... but it does help us through them.
Does Jesus preach in your city? God often tells us to do a certain thing; to reach out to someone, or to establish a church in some place, but once we experience the power of that happening, we are inclined to remain there in that moment or place and bask in the glow of it. How often do we get in God's way once our job is done? How often does Jesus come to take the pulpit only to find us stubbornly standing there?
Are we steadfast in our faith? Are we allowing God to work in us so that we might be perfected and brought to completion? These are my thoughts this morning and I invite you to join me in contemplating them.
Are there clouds in your life, and if so, what do they look like? Are they the big billowy white ones that we typically see on a bright summer day? How about the thin wispy ones that stretch out as if forever? Or are they the dark churning clouds that tower into the sky and are filled with lightning and ominous rolls of thunder? God is in the clouds, all clouds, and how does He come to you in them today?
My goal is to live in my faith for this precise moment. Looking into the future distracts me from the here and now and what God has for me to do right this minute. Do you have long term spiritual plans that take up most of your time and prayer? Well, drop your sail and look at what God has surrounded you with at this exact point in time; He will tell you what He has planned for your future when the time is right! Don’t worry about what is to come, or what has been, concentrate on the present and listen to God’s voice right now.
Are you a slave to instinctive reflexes... this is a recipe for instant sin, and an avenue for our inner person, the old fallen man, to bypass a carefully thought-out reaction, driven by our faith and intellect, as it erupts from our mouths. Conquering this ancient fallen creature within each of us requires chains that only God’s Word, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, can bind him with.
Do we follow Jesus for the reward of eternal life? Do we serve Him for the blessings He bestows on us? Is our fear of God because we might be judged and thrown into a pit of fire? If our answer to any of these questions is yes, then our faith might just be an illusion, and our love for Him far less than He deserves. This morning, I am reading Psalm 84. This is a declaration of love, and the language is incredible. There is no doubt of the psalmist's intense love for God as he begins by writing about his longing to be in the Lord’s presence…
Where do we look for wisdom? How about righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? Do we find them in church or bible study? Do we seek them out while plodding along a pilgrimage path in some far-off country? The answer is that we find them in one place only... in our relationship with Jesus Christ.