April 28, 2013 … Testing, Testing!!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 118

Passage of the Day: Deuteronomy 8: 1-5 [NLT] ……  
1 “Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD. 4 For all these forty years. your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. 5 So you should realize that just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you to help you.” 
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 Contextual Study of today’s passage: Deuteronomy, Chapter 8 [NLT] … Go to this link …  ============

Reference Passage #1: 2nd Corinthians 13: 5-6 : [Often, we should run an honest Spirit-test to see if we’re being true to our faith.] …[NKJV] …  
5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. 6 I hope you recognize that we have passed the test and are approved by God.

  Reference Passage #2: Matthew 5: 16 : [How clearly are our lives reflecting the light of Christ into a very dark world?] …[NKJV] …  
16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.

My Journal for Today: Invariably when somebody tests out a microphone to see if the sound is clear and loud enough for a room or auditorium, you hear the audio-tester say, “Testing, testing, testing!!!” rather loudly. Or maybe it’s “Testing, One, Two, Three, Four!!” In any event, the person doing the test is trying to see whether the audio system in question is adequate to project the sound into the area being tested.

 I hope we, in the faith – as Christians – realize that every now-and-again it’s a good idea for us to run a spiritual sound-check in our lives as to the clarity of our faith, .. just as the Apostle Paul exhorted the church in Corinth (see 2nd Cor. 13: 5 copied above). In other words, periodically we need to get with a mature Christian whom we trust, asking such questions as …  
1. Do you think, I need any areas in my faith-walk where I need to mature or surrender more to God’s Spirit? 
2. Are there any of the fruit of God’s Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22-23) which clearly need maturation?
3. Do you think I’m shining Christ’s light into the world through my life; and if so, how?
4. What do you think are my personal Spiritual gifts; and how am I using them for God’s glory?

That would be a revealing “sound-check” of our faith, wouldn’t it? And we also need to pause, especially when we are in the midst of spiritually challenging times in our life, to realize that God is always running His own Spirit-imparted tests to see how we’re doing in our covenant relationship with Him. That’s what God was clearly saying to His people, through Moses, in Deuteronomy 8: 1-5, my primary scriptural passage for this devotional, copied above. God always wants our life to be a “testing, testing, testing” scenario; so that we can make sure our lives clearly reflect His light and His will to the world [see Matt. 5: 16 - also above].

And historically, we know that God’s people failed the sound-check of obedience with the lives and times of the Israelites being muddled by disobedience and sinful distortion. So, maybe today it’s time to get with a strong, biblically sound, Christian – whom you know and trust – and ask him or her those questions above; and see if the “sound check” of your faith is coming through loudly and clearly. And if not, what adjustments need to be made to allow our lives to reflect Christ more clearly and loudly into the world.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for testing me and allowing me to project You through my life; but Lord, help me to be able to see if any adjustments need to be made, dear Holy Spirit, so that I can shine Your light even more clearly into the world. … Amen

 Blogger’s PS: I challenge and implore any reader of this devotional journal entry to openly contact me [email me @ billb13@bellsouth.net] and honestly give me feedback, answering any of the questions above FOR ME … to help me sound out my faith more clearly into the world. I would covet any such feedback and any prayers from you as to my growth in Christ.