For most people, when they read this verse, they think it’s all about money or material possessions. But I would challenge you today to be generous with yourself. It means blessing others with your smile and giving them the gift of a cheerful heart. It means seeking out the good in someone, and then of affirming and encouraging that good. For when you sow generously of yourself…others can not help but see the outer reflection of an inner attitude of Christ’s love.
Tag: inspirational daily devotional
Psalm 95:8 ” Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”
Can I as a Believer have a hard heart? The answer is yes! Now I’m not talking about full-out rebellion against God…I’m talking more about apathy. For the road to a hardened heart starts simply with indifference and disregard to the Holy Spirit. We hear but we choose to ignore. That’s because we arrogantly think we know better, so we slowly toughen our stance…digging in our heels…holding on to old habits we’re unlikely to ever change. A hardened heart does not happen over night…it is rather an insidious and gradual process of resistance towards God’s authority in our life.
Lamentations 3:31-32 ” For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.”
In these verses, Jeremiah is looking over the utter destruction of Jerusalem…overwhelmed by the suffering of the people…and realizing it was because of their sin that God had allowed it. But Jeremiah also knew of God’s tremendous capacity for compassion towards His people. For in Isaiah 54: 7-8 God says, ” For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” Never underestimate God’s compassion to change any situation from dire to miraculous.
Lamentations 3: 25-26 ” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Psalm 40:1 says, “I wait patently for the Lord.” Exodus 14:14 tells us, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” In these verses in Lamentations the author, Jeremiah, wants to stress not only the need to wait patiently for the Lord in confident hopefulness…but to wait quietly, marked by little activity to attempt to fix things on our part. (In other words, not trying to “help God.”) To do both simultaneously and to do them well is a real test of our trust in Him.
Lamentations 3:24 ” I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ “
Statistics say that human beings spend approximately 6 months of their lives waiting in line for things…which amounts to about 3 days a year just standing around. So how can we change the complexion and emotions associated with waiting from bored, frustrated, impatience… to hopeful expectation that’s rooted in God? It could first start by raising your head up from your phone and engaging in the world around you. People complain that they’re lonely…but they refuse to become involved in casual conversation with the person standing in line next to them…preferring to bury their face in their phone instead. But consider this…maybe God placed that person specifically there to have you speak encouragement into their life. So the next time you find yourself waiting…look around…God may have someone He wants you to talk to.
Lamentations 3: 22-23 ” Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Even when we’re not thinking about Him, God is still thinking about us. He is continually adding to and filling us with His loving kindness and mercy…even times when we don’t really deserve it. And God’s steadfastness towards us often puts to shame the poor example of trust we have of Him. For regardless of how often we’re mindful of Him…God is always thinking about us.
Psalm 55: 12-13 ” If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend…”
If you read the first eight verses of Psalm 55 you have to wonder – what’s gotten into David. This mighty man of God and fierce warrior…someone who as a youngster killed Goliath with a single stone…is now quaking in his boots. Bravery has been replaced by abject terror…overwhelming fear now overshadows this once courageous man. It’s to the point, in verses 6-8 that David is ready to give up and just run away. So who is this person that’s affecting David so? It turns out to be his own flesh and blood…his son, Absalom, who’s attempting to seize the kingdom away from him. This once fierce warrior is facing an enemy he’s never encountered before, and his anguished heart can hardly bear it.
Exodus 14:10 ” As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.”
I’m quick to say, “I trust in the Lord!” I really have no qualm about putting my faith in Him…it’s just myself I can’t trust. For I believe I know what I can’t do…but am I really trusting in the Lord then? That’s because every time I say to myself, “I can’t do that.” I’m denying and discounting what the Lord can do through me. Now I know I can’t save myself…I can only depend upon God for deliverance. So then I need to take that same trusting dependence and apply it to my “I can’t do that.” statements. For the bottom line is, my dependence can never be on myself, but on God alone.
Isaiah 41:4 ” Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord – with the first of them and with the last – I am He.”
We can’t begin to appreciate the faithfulness of God. He was there before the dawn of time…and He will be there for us into the infinite future. We are told in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” God will be with us from beginning to end…and He promises to never leave or forsake us. Or another way to say it would be- I am with you now…I’m still with you…I will be with you forever.
Isaiah 12:2 ” Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.”
The next time you’re trembling with fear and unable to understand the whys of what’s happening in your life…focus your mind on this. God is omnipotent…having all authority. He is omnipresent…having all presence. He is omniscient…having all understanding. Who better to place your trust in? For our hope can only come from God when our heart is steadfast and secure in Him.
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