Earlier in Genesis, God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child. ” I will make you into a great nation.” (Genesis 12:2) But like most of us…they allowed fear and doubt to overshadow their hope and expectations. For in this verse, God led Abraham out into the cloudless night sky to observe the stars, (they estimate there are 1 Billion Trillion stars in our universe), and then reassured him that his offspring would be as numerous. God does this for us also. He can cause a Bible verse to suddenly become alive and take on new meaning…banishing doubt and bolstering our faith in Him. He can strip away fear and strengthen our trust by bringing into remembrance all the things He’s done for us in the past. And just like Abraham, we too can look up into that starry sky and see God’s wonder, power, and majesty…and be assured of His love and faithfulness for us.
Tag: inspirational daily devotional
Judges 12:4 ” Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim.”
After winning the battle, the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River where you could cross into Ephraim. It tells us in verses 5-6 that the Gileadites then conducted a linguistic test on any man trying to cross back over to Ephraim. They would simply ask them to say the word “shibboleth”. Because of the Ephraim dialect, even though the man would deny being an Ephraimite… he would mispronounce the word. 42,000 Ephraimites were killed there because their tongues betrayed them. The tongue may be one of the smallest body parts we have…but it can undoubtedly get us into the most trouble.
Matthew 6:13 ” And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Whenever God is the agent of trials (temptations)…it’s for the purpose of testing, never for the purpose of causing us to fall. For God can’t be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. (James 1:13) And with each test, He will not only never tempt you beyond what you can bear, but He will also provide a way out. (I Corinthians 10:13) But we know our biggest adversary when it comes to temptation is the devil…the evil one. In this verse of the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking to be rescued from evil or the evil one. This statement is echoed in the Prayer of Jabez which says, “..Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me far from evil, that I may not cause pain.” ( I Chronicles 4:10) NKJV So anytime we ask God to keep us from the evil one…the devil must flee.
Matthew 6:12 ” Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Peter asked Jesus just how many times he had to forgive someone, and he used the Old Testament number of seven. (Genesis 4:24) But Jesus answered Peter’s question by saying, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” So it’s not really about numbers, it’s more about our response to that transgression against us. When we forgive someone, we’re letting go of resentment…we’re refusing to take offense…and we’re not allowing a root of bitterness to grow. For just as God forgives us, we must forgive others. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Matthew 6:11 ” Give us today our daily bread.”
In this verse of the Lord’s Prayer, we’re told to ask for our regular allotment of bread in order to sustain and support our life. And as Proverbs 30:8 implores, not too much, that I turn my back on You God…or too little, that I steal and dishonor Your name. But we’re also asking for more than ordinary bread, for in Lamentations 3:23-24, it tells us God’s compassion towards us is new every morning, and that He is our daily portion. This daily spiritual bread is shown in John, the 6th Chapter, when Jesus calls Himself the “Bread of Life”.
Matthew 6:10 ” Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Psalm 40:8 tells us, “I desire ( or choose) to do Your will O my God.” We even see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, “Yet not as I will (want), but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) When we seek God’s will… we desire that which pleases God and thus will create joy within us…for we will find ourselves in the center of His will…and it’s the very best place to be.
Matthew 6:9 ” This, then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”
In Luke 11:1 it tells us that the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to teach them how to pray. This verse is the start then of what we call The Lord’s Prayer….undoubtedly the most perfect prayer we could ever utter. The prayer starts off by firmly placing the focus God, our heavenly Father. Jeremiah 3:19 tells us that God wants us to call Him Father, but not like any earthly father…for we are to revere His authority and divinity in light of redemption.
Matthew 6:8 ” …for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Sometimes our prayers sound more like a toddler in a toy store…”I want that, and that, and that, and Oh, that!” God willingly listens to all our wishes and desires, but only He knows what we really need. And sometimes what we want and what we need are very far apart. So just remember, God understands and loves you far more than you can ever imagine…that only He can see “around the corner” of the future…and that He has only your best interest at heart. God may not give you everything you want, but He will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:7 ” And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions and blabbering on like pagans, for they think they’ll be heard because of their many words.”
Are your prayers more of a formula of repetitious words from memory…often without paying attention to what you’re actually saying? Have they become just a fixed routine of the same prayers repeated over and over again? Congratulations, you have the gift of religious gab! But this isn’t how the Lord wants you to communicate with Him. It isn’t the quantity or intensity of your prayers that He desires. Rather, it’s the heart-felt, getting real before the Lord, quality He wants.
Psalm 4:4 ” In your anger do not sin: when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Selah
I am my worst critic. I lie in bed at night annoyed with myself that I didn’t accomplish everything I should have. Or I’m aggravated at myself for not speaking up when I could have. I react with self-loathing as I play back the events of the day… as the “I should have, I could have, I would have’s” run in a loop through my mind. What’s so sad is… most times, I’m beating myself up over things no one else even knows about. They’re things that are only important to me…so why am I so perturbed? In a word…it’s guilt. Self-directed anger is fueled by guilt…and it doesn’t need to be guilt heaped on us from someone else…for we can do that all by ourselves! But this guilt-ridden self-anger can be changed by the last few words of this verse…for it says to “search your hearts and be silent. Selah” That means we listen and not speak, allowing the Holy Spirit to whisper truth into our heart and mind. It means then we pause and ponder these truths not allowing our mind to race negatively. It’s positive reinforcement, Holy Spirit style.
Safetypinlove 