COVID 19 and the pandemic have posed to the Church what I think is a season of great importance and significance. And lately, with all the crucial events happening, it seems even more meaningful to look at this verse from the Church’s perspective. First, we need to remember that as the Family of God, we are all members of God’s Household and we need to be eager to do what’s good for each other. (Titus 2:14) Or as Proverbs 3:27 tells us, “Don’t withhold good from those who deserve it, when it’s in your power to act.” Practicing good this year has taken on new meaning, and the Church should look within its own Body for unfilled needs. Call it Practical Christianity, but the Church should look at this season in time as a opportunity to bless their own…those who fill the pews, silently suffering with unspoken needs. Maybe it’s out of shame or embarrassment they don’t ask…but the needs remain the same. Every person has been touched in some way by the Pandemic…many have lost jobs…many have lost loved ones…now is the time for the Church to shore up and bind up their own.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
II Corinthians 1:3 ” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.”
We praise and thank You God, for only You are inherently worthy of such praise. It says in this verse that You are the Father of compassion, and from this great mercy of Yours comes how we are to treat each other. It’s what You commend us to follow as the compassionate treatment towards our fellow man. So Father, we ask You to show us ways we may show compassion and mercy on those around us. This verse goes on to say that You are the God of all comfort, and we thank You for Your encouragement and exhortation for the sole purpose of strengthening and establishing us in our faith…that we may comfort others. For in verse 4 we read that You comfort us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from You. (II Corinthians 1:4) So Lord, we thank You for Your compassion and comfort…Your mercy and admonition…for they are all divine blessings of Yours. Amen.
Exodus 33:14-15 ” The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.’ “
“God brought you out of Egypt by His Presence and His great strength.” (Deuteronomy 4:37) The Lord’s Presence went ahead of the Israelites as a pillar of cloud in the day, and a pillar of fire by night and it says that it never left them as they traveled. (Exodus 13:21-22) Moses and the people had come to trust and depend on God’s Presence and so the idea of going it alone was too much for Moses to even consider. David summed up this feeling perfectly when he begged God, “Do not cast me from Your Presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11) We may not be able to touch, or see God’s Presence…but it’s real and it goes before us as a pillar. So thank You, Lord, for Your relentless Presence in our lives…for “You have granted us eternal blessings and made us glad with the joy of Your Presence.” (Psalm 21:6)
Luke 1:18 ” Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’ “
The angel Gabriel had come to Zechariah with the good news that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son called John…John the Baptist. But Zechariah rejected the notion immediately as impossible due to their advanced age. A amazed Gabriel answered Zechariah’s skepticism with this, “I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news…but you don’t believe my words.” But not to be too rough on Zechariah…how many times have I done the very same thing? I hesitate, question, or downright reject a word from the Lord thinking, “You don’t know what You’re asking me to do, or worse yet, “I know more than You do, God.” That’s when I must remember to remember. Remember what? To call to mind all the Lord has done for me in the past. How He’s protected and cared for me in situations I should of died in…how He’s brought me through things I didn’t have the strength to do myself. When I doubt God, I limit Him…but when I believe, nothing is too difficult for Him to do.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 ” He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Time is made up of seasons…just as our own lives. For within each season of our life there is unique beauty peculiar only to the time. And as we transition from season to season in our life there may be frustration, sadness, or longing, for we simply don’t understand God’s workings. “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits?” (Job 11:7) But because we can’t understand what God’s doing doesn’t mean we can’t trust Him. Just as He’s placed within mankind’s inner nature the notion of hope in the hereafter, He’s calling us to trust Him completely in all things our minds cannot fathom. So we take that hope… to build our faith… and learn to trust.
John 15:5-6 ” I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
This Summer we had several severe thunderstorms come through causing large tree limbs to come down in our yard. Chainsaw in hand, my husband and I made short work of cutting up the fallen boughs. But it was amazing to me to see just how quickly the leaves had already wilted on the branches. When Jesus said, “Remain in Me.” He’s speaking about the mutual union between Himself and all Believers. And when we abide in this relationship through obedience and dependence on Jesus…we grow and flourish. For as we remain in Him, we will bear the fruit of God’s evidence in our life…a life full of joy, peace, and encouragement.
II Corinthians 4:18 ” So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
This verse causes me to bring up a uncomfortable question for some. What are you focused on? Where is most of your time and attention going? Is it towards present visible material things…or is it on Jesus? I dare ask, if I scrolled through your social media feed today, would I find more temporal than eternal…more carnal than godly? We all need to lift our eyes above this secular landscape before us and fix our eyes on Jesus. We need to look beyond our natural abilities of sight and rather ask for divine revelation by the Holy Spirit. And then armed with this Godly vision…we can fix our eyes on the unseen eternal glory.
Deuteronomy 30:11 ” Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.”
It’s not too hard to see. “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) God is requiring our obedience and He’s saying, “Look at the world around you, this all didn’t just happen because of a big bang!” Also, it’s not beyond your abilities to read the Bible and learn of Me, ” My word is very near you; it’s in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14) The ultimate decision is ours though, but God makes it abundantly clear…”See, I set before you today life and prosperity, or death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16)
Philippians 1:27 ” Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”
The Apostle Paul was writing to the Church of Philippi from a Roman prison…a deep, dark, dank place filled with hopelessness and misery, yet he was exhorting his fellow Believers to live a life worthy of the Gospel…worthy of the calling they had received. Jude 3 calls it contending for the faith. Of taking the truth of the Gospel Message we’ve received and studying it, learning from it, believing in it, and finally, defending it. When we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel we are fulfilling our duty to stand firm against those who may attempt to alter/ or change the grace of God into some man-made Religion. For the next verse goes on to say, “Stand firm in one Spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” Philippians 1:28)
God says you are: Forgiven
If you’re shaking your head at this idea, hear me out. Maybe you accepted the gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins in the past, but guilt and shame keep bringing them back up in your face. That’s not God reminding you of your past shortcomings, that’s Satan. For Psalm 103:12 tells us that, “As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” God has thrown your sins into the Lake of Forgiveness and placed a ” No Fishing” sign on the bank. The past is the past and none of us can change a moment of what has happened…let it go, accept God’s forgiveness, and move forward. Or maybe your saying to yourself that your sins are just too bad to be forgiven…too horrific for God to pardon. The Lord doesn’t place sin in different categories, classes, or degrees of severity. All of us have sinned, there is no one righteous, not even one. (Psalm 14:3) And where sin increased, God’s grace increased all the more. (Romans 5:20) All you need to do today is accept the gift of forgiveness God is offering you.
Safetypinlove 