Whatever you’re going through today, and however hard it is to comprehend…there’s purpose for your pain…an aim to the affliction…and a role for the ruin. For sometimes God doesn’t change the situation we’re in…He’s more interested in changing us. Once I faced a circumstance so painful that I begged God daily to change it. And change did happen…but not in the way I thought it should. For over time, God made me over and how I viewed this problem. Instead of making the problem disappear, He transformed my character and mind-set…giving me the grace to accept it.
Category: daily devotional blog
Jeremiah 5: 30-31 ” A horible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and My people love it this way. But what will you do in the end? “
Spinning God’s Word to make it more acceptable, and politically correct is not new. During Jeremiah’s time the prophets used lies and deceit to woo the people into a false sense of peace. And the Church Leaders weren’t far behind in this guise, using their power to manipulate and deceive the people also. So why did the people not only tolerate this… but love it? These false prophets were only telling the people what they wanted to hear and the Church Leaders were watering down God’s Word to the point no one felt uncomfortable. But what does the future hold for such deceptive action then or now?
Luke 17: 5-6 ” The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.’ “
How do we go about increasing our faith? First, it’s about believing and accepting the Gospel Message…that Jesus came to save and redeem us from eternal punishment by His life, death and resurrection. Secondly, our faith is built up every time we trust and obey God and then see Him working in our life. Thus, over time, our faith increases, like layers of bricks being built up to form a strong wall. Finally, with that increasing faith comes a confidence that there’s nothing impossible for God.
Ruth 1:16 ” But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.’ “
When God calls us to leave behind our past and follow Him…it’s scary. We’re comfortable where we are and now He’s asking us to go into foreign territory. But just like Ruth, our past is dead and barren, holding out no hope for a productive future. So we need to make that decision of just who we’re going to serve…God or self. (Joshua 24:15)
Ephesians 1:18 ” I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…”
My prayer for you today is for spiritual enlightenment. God made His light shine in our hearts to give us this light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (II Corinthians 4:6)… and with this light of knowledge comes awareness and understanding. But not only this, but as Job replied to God, “My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You.” (Job 42:5)…I pray that you would be able to experience God for yourself, not just what you’ve been told about Him.
Job 5: 6-7 ” For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”
We all are born with a sin nature. You don’t need a teach a baby how to be crabby and out of sorts…they arch their little back, face beet red, as they let you know in no uncertain terms they’re unhappy! No, thanks to Adam and Eve that sin nature has been handed down from generation to generation. In Psalm 51:5 David laments about this sin nature when he says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” From the first Adam we obtained our sin nature…but the second Adam, Jesus Christ, came to redeem us from it.
Revelation 3:3 ” Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
John was writing to the Church in Sardis…but he could be addressing the Church today in general. When he says, “Wake up!”, John is speaking not of just physically waking up and throwing off our lackadaisical Christianity…but of waking up morally and realizing we have been compromising our faith away. John was talking about comfortable or lazy Christianity…we’re saved and satisfied…but all the while the rest of the world outside is dying and going to Hell.
Psalm 32:8 ” I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Are you unsure and confused today? God is there to bring guidance and clarity to any situation you’re facing. He’ll show you the correct path to take and how to best conduct your life. And when you need advice, look to Him, the Wonderful Counselor, first. For no worldly consultation can compare to God’s perfect insight and tender concern for you.
Hebrews 12:15 ” See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
A root of bitterness flourishes in the person that takes offense easily. For when they feel that someone has insulted them…they react not with grace but with indignity and resentment. And if allowed to grow, this root of bitterness leads to a wounded spirit that is of no use to God. And when this happens among Believers in a Church setting…this is when we see division and disunity. As Believers, we need to fight for unity within the Body…not murmur, gripe, and easily take offense.
Ezekiel 28:17 ” Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”
It’s vital to know the enemy and his mode of operation…ask anyone who has served in the armed forces. The Scripture here is a lament or an oracle against Satan. It speaks of him being created blameless but then allowing wickedness and willful rebellious pride to enter him. Our enemy, Satan, also has many alias or aka – Lucifer, prince of this world, father of lies, the evil one, the devil, our adversary, a deceptive angel of light. His mode of operation is simple and yet very effective…it’s destruction, deception, and death. But it’s also essential to know the enemy’s limitations. It tells us in the Bible that if we resist the devil he must flee.(James 4:7) And when we are equipped with the armor of God, we are able stand against him victoriously. (Ephesians 6:11) Finally and most importantly…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)
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