Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18, 2013 … Discerning God’s Ways

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 77

Passage of the Day: Jeremiah 6: 14 [NLT] …  
14 Remember, O my God, all the evil things that Tobiah and Sanballat have done. And remember Noadiah the prophet and all the prophets like her who have tried to intimidate me.”
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Contextual Study of today’s passage: Jeremiah, Chapter 6 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 55: 8-9 : [Sometimes we just don’t get it – i.e, we just don’t grasp the high workings of God. ] …[NLT] …  
8 “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.... "

Reference passage #2 : 2nd Corinthians 12: 1-10 [NLT] … Go to this link … 

My Journal for Today: Ever been in a place in your life where you wanted to disclaim your circumstances and yell at God with something like, “Hey God, what gives; … this is not fair?!” Or maybe you were tempted to disclaim to God with something like, “Hey, Lord, … I’m doing Your work; I don’t deserve all these troubles!” Here you were (or are); out there in life, doing things the way you think God would want you to do them; and you run up against all kinds of worldly troubles or injustice. And not understanding the “WHY” behind your circumstances, it’s all too tempting to get angry at God, isn’t it?

Well, that was certainly Jeremiah’s deal in the text Os Hillman used today as his highlight passage from Jeremiah 6; and here was God’s designated workman, … Jeremiah, … doing God’s designated will, and what happens? He runs up against life and those who simply didn’t want him to live it God’s way. … Familiar?! … Maybe you’ve run up against it in life when you thought you were headed down God’s road, … God’s way; and people just kept wanting to get in the way or thwart your path.

Well, my friend, get in line with all of the rest of us … or at least be a follower of Nehemiah’s faithful walk. He simply would not be thwarted in moving toward finishing the task God had led him to carry out. And he just kept leaning on God and depending on the Lord to guide and protect him; and that should be the way we live, move, and have our being in this world.

Sometimes, as God’s word tells us in Isaiah 55: 8-9, copied above, we just don’t know the WHY in our circumstances; but when we do know the WAY, especially when it’s God’s way, it behooves us to move ahead in faith. If you go back and study one of my favorite practical passages in the New Testament (see 2nd Cor. 12: 1-11), where Paul had just been given a vision of heaven; and then following that, we read that, inexplicably, God allowed Satan to give Paul some painful malady – a “thorn” – which Paul first could not understand. And Paul prayed and prayed for God to take this “thorn” from him; but it just was not to be. Finally, Paul remembered something Jesus – somewhere/sometime – had told him, that “God’s grace is sufficient for us;” … and Paul saw that God had allowed the rough circumstances, this “thorn,” into his life to keep him humble enough to receive and use God’s grace.

Dear ones, … when we’re moving down God’s highway, … going His way, … it shouldn’t surprise us that Satan, his world, and even our own flesh will do all they can to thwart our path. So, if you’re doing life God’s way now; and things just seem unfair or unnecessarily hard, … join me in praising God to allow us to be part of building God’s walls for His Temple just as Nehemiah did.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, life is tough! But praise be that You are showing me the way; and I am following. … Amen

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