Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration when Elijah and Moses appeared and Jesus was for a time transfigured from an earthly form into a supernatural one. True to form though, Peter started to babble, putting a foot into his mouth…when God interrupted him saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5) However, this mountain top experience changed Peter, James, and John forever. They were witnesses to the power and majesty, glory and honor of the Lord Jesus Christ…and this personal knowledge and experience changed who they were and how they shared the Gospel Message from that time on.
Category: daily devotional
I Kings 3:12 ” I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”
Solomon asked God for a discerning heart and the wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong and God was pleased. (I Kings 3:9-10) For Solomon wasn’t asking for the superficial or trivial, or things that had no eternal significance…he was asking for wisdom. I once worked with a Doctor who started calling me Prudence. When I asked why, he stated it was how I conducted myself dealing with patients and that he appreciated my common sense and prudent approach. When you ask God for wisdom, understanding, discretion, and His Will in your life… He happily will oblige. (James 1:5)
Ephesians 2:10 ” For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
You are the work of God’s hands…lovingly created with unique abilities, gifts, talents, and passions. When God made you, He had the eye of an artist and the soul of a poet as He formed you…for you are truly a work of art to behold. There is no one like you, for you are God’s workmanship…created to be like Him in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24)…and eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:14)
Judges 16:16 ” With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.”
Samson had great physical power…and Delilah was determined to know the secret of his strength. And so she began to nag, hound, and complain to him. Very telling, the name Delilah means tease…a persistent, irritating person who goads on others…and taking nagging to an art-form. Samson might have had superior physical strength…but he was no match for Delilah’s sharp tongue.
Psalm 89:2 ” I will declare that Your love stands firm forever, that You established Your faithfulness in heaven itself.”
It goes on to tell us in Psalm 36:5-6, “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep.” I have the opportunity today to be “out in the middle of no where” in North Dakota. Sitting here looking at the massive expanse of horizon, it seems like you can see forever. But this vastness around me can in no way compare to the width and breadth of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. For His mercy for us is indefinite, brought into existence before the very beginning of time by the God of eternity…a ever-lasting and forever God.
Ephesians 6:14 ” Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…”
It tells us here to stand fast against the enemy, but unless you’ve prepared for battle ahead of time, the enemy will have you for lunch. The belt of truth is that solid foundation of doctrinal knowledge of God’s Word…It’s His unshakable, unchangeable, everlasting truth that we need to gird our heart, soul, and mind with. Our belt of truth also holds all our weapons in place around our waist… weapons that are always at the ready. Finally, this belt of truth girds us with the power and authority of Jesus Christ to stand firm against anything the enemy throws at us.
Romans 12:18 ” If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
We can’t force others into peaceful co-existence with us…we can only control how we react and behave around angry people. You know the ones…people with huge chips on their shoulders…always thinking the world is out to get them. It takes a conscious decision of the will on our part not to take the bait when attacked. It takes lots of deep breaths and determination not to lower ourselves down to that level…and sometimes, it takes just walking away for a few minutes to regain our composure and pray. “Lord, help me look past the angry hostility and see rather the hurt, the fear, the frustration. Allow me Lord to see this person through Your eyes and how I may show Your love to them.” Amen
Psalm 56:8 ” Record my lament; list my tears on Your scroll – are they not on Your record? “
The Lord hears and puts down in writing all my mourning and outcries. He keeps a record of every tear I have shed and places them in His wine-skin…or some translations say places them in a bottle. We may think that our grief and weeping goes unnoticed…but it’s never beyond the compassionate eye of God.
Romans 8:28 ” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
God called us for His own reasons by the wooing of the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel. The plan and purpose for your life was ingeniously created before the beginning of time. You might think God’s plan and purpose for you is only some lofty ideal…more concept than practicality. But God uses everything for our good. He uses the consequences that happen when we sin to disciple and shape us into a better person. He uses the drudgery of dull mundane tasks, the interactions with strangers, and the simple acts of kindness we do to conform us closer to His image. There is not one thing you’ll do today that hasn’t already passed through God’s hands first and will be used for your good.
Job 17:11 “My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.”
Time waits for no one. With each passing day, we are a little older and unfortunately, the hopes and dreams we have a little less likely to happen. When we’re young, we look at time and the future as something with limitless possibilities…but when we’re older, or disease overtakes our body…time suddenly becomes very precious. Each one of us has been allotted a certain amount of time here on the earth…time we can choose to use productively or rashly. So how are you managing your time today? Are you using it to forward God’s Kingdom…or are you aimlessly pilfering it away? Time is getting short…make the very most of it today.
Safetypinlove 