Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 8: 27 … [From Solomon’s prayer] … “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built! ”
My Journal for Today: As I explore the attributes of God this month, one that is most reassuring to me as a Christian is the characteristic of God being OMNIPRESENT. No, there is no way that I can totally get my mind around that quality completely. But when I think of the reality of God being infinitely present everywhere and always, it goes “hand-in-glove” with the proclamation of Hebrews 13: 5 …
SCRIPTURE: Heb. 13: 5 … God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." [quoted from Deut. 31: 6]
And when God’s word, and especially when Jesus, commands us to do something, even something enormous like the Great Commission (see Matt. 18: 19-20), we can know that He’s always there WITH us and FOR us. That’s also the promise of 1st Cor. 10: 13 … a verse which I memorized a long time ago to help me in times of testing, trial, and/or temptation …
SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 10: 13 No temptation [which can also be translated “test, trial, trouble, or tribulation”] has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
It’s God’s infinitely caring omnipresence that makes such a promise possible, affirming for believers that God is ALWAYS faithful and will ALWAYS be there, ANYWHERE and in ANY SITUATION, to provide the way for us when were being tried, tested, or tempted. Now is that cool, or what?!!!
And so, I believe the reality of God’s omnipresence should not seem like a God who’s constantly tracking us, … like some all powerful private eye. No, rather it should motivate us towards holiness because of God’s omnipresent love, mercy, and grace, which is always there to lift us up when we need it (see Isaiah 41: 10). Certainly, there is no where we can go to hide our sin from God (see Ps. 139: 1-12). But God’s omnipresence is much more positively seen in His promise of everlasting cleansing from sin (1st John 1: 9), allowing us to move on toward a life of Christlikeness (see Gal. 2: 20).
[Blogger’s Note: Other than the highlight verse for the day from 1st Kings and possibly the longer passage from Ps. 139, I think any reader should be motivated to memorize all of the other verses quoted in the exposition of today’s devotional entry. They are all verses which can useful for encouragement when circumstances are challenging. And who of us couldn’t use that?!]
My Prayer Today: Thanks for being everywhere with me, Lord. Amen
Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Saturday, October 24, 2009
2009 – Day 296.Oct 24 – God’s Waiting Room
1st Passage for Study: Acts 11: 25 … Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.
2nd Passage for Study: 2nd Cor. 12: 1 – 11 … Linked for your study …
My Journal for Today: Wow, … 2nd Corinthians 12 is one of my favorite Pauline application passages from God’s word, telling about Paul’s thorn in the flesh and Christ’s perfectly sufficient grace to give Paul (and us, by extension) strength in the midst of our weakness. Perhaps you’ve gleaned a lot of strength from this passage … as have I.
But Pastor Swindoll, this morning, helped give me more historical context on this passage. He helped me see that when Barnabas came and retrieved Paul from Tarsus, it was during that time in his home town that the former Saul was tortured, flogged several times, and even survived a stoning. And quite possibly, Swindoll speculates – and I think it could be so – Paul may have lapsed into the semi-conscious state he refers to in 2nd Cor. 12: 2, where Paul was given a vision of glory, which would lead him to be able to declare that he could boast only in his own weakness, discovering that God would pour His own strength into Paul’s weakened life, … Paul having been humbled by this experience in Tarsus.
And then Swindoll points to our own lives, speculating that some of us may have had our “times of Tarsus,” experiencing some devastating time of personal damage. Perhaps it was a devastating injury. I think of Joni Eeareckson Tada, who’s been a quadriplegic for over 40 years; but she is one who always declares God’s goodness and purpose for her “handicap.” Maybe you have had a devastating personal setback; … maybe it was an incarceration like that of Chuck Colson, whose salvation and ministry to prisoners resulted from his Watergate conviction. Maybe, like yours truly, you arose from years of habitual sin to discover that God’s mercy can – and does – heal and renew us to serve Him and to use His power to overcome our own weaknesses.
That’s what the Apostle Paul discovered in his time of privation in Tarsus; and it was during those horribly difficult times, his time of preparation, from which he arose, with the help of Barnabas, and came to Antioch to join the other Apostles and disciples of Christ in a church movement which had been growing. But, as we would see, God’s Church which would grow exponentially from Paul’s Spirit-imparted gifts which would be used, by God’s enabling grace, to spread the Gospel to much of the known world at that time.
But Paul had to learn – as he did in Tarsus and we need to learn now – that it is only in humility we can receive God’s enabling grace to overcome our own weaknesses. And prayerfully we are learning that lesson as we are living our lives … maybe in a Tarsus time right now.
My Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, I thank you for the “Tarsus-time” in my life which led me to find and use Your strength so that I could serve You. Help me to be continually wrapped in that humility so that You can pour Your grace and strength into my weakness. Amen
2nd Passage for Study: 2nd Cor. 12: 1 – 11 … Linked for your study …
My Journal for Today: Wow, … 2nd Corinthians 12 is one of my favorite Pauline application passages from God’s word, telling about Paul’s thorn in the flesh and Christ’s perfectly sufficient grace to give Paul (and us, by extension) strength in the midst of our weakness. Perhaps you’ve gleaned a lot of strength from this passage … as have I.
But Pastor Swindoll, this morning, helped give me more historical context on this passage. He helped me see that when Barnabas came and retrieved Paul from Tarsus, it was during that time in his home town that the former Saul was tortured, flogged several times, and even survived a stoning. And quite possibly, Swindoll speculates – and I think it could be so – Paul may have lapsed into the semi-conscious state he refers to in 2nd Cor. 12: 2, where Paul was given a vision of glory, which would lead him to be able to declare that he could boast only in his own weakness, discovering that God would pour His own strength into Paul’s weakened life, … Paul having been humbled by this experience in Tarsus.
And then Swindoll points to our own lives, speculating that some of us may have had our “times of Tarsus,” experiencing some devastating time of personal damage. Perhaps it was a devastating injury. I think of Joni Eeareckson Tada, who’s been a quadriplegic for over 40 years; but she is one who always declares God’s goodness and purpose for her “handicap.” Maybe you have had a devastating personal setback; … maybe it was an incarceration like that of Chuck Colson, whose salvation and ministry to prisoners resulted from his Watergate conviction. Maybe, like yours truly, you arose from years of habitual sin to discover that God’s mercy can – and does – heal and renew us to serve Him and to use His power to overcome our own weaknesses.
That’s what the Apostle Paul discovered in his time of privation in Tarsus; and it was during those horribly difficult times, his time of preparation, from which he arose, with the help of Barnabas, and came to Antioch to join the other Apostles and disciples of Christ in a church movement which had been growing. But, as we would see, God’s Church which would grow exponentially from Paul’s Spirit-imparted gifts which would be used, by God’s enabling grace, to spread the Gospel to much of the known world at that time.
But Paul had to learn – as he did in Tarsus and we need to learn now – that it is only in humility we can receive God’s enabling grace to overcome our own weaknesses. And prayerfully we are learning that lesson as we are living our lives … maybe in a Tarsus time right now.
My Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, I thank you for the “Tarsus-time” in my life which led me to find and use Your strength so that I could serve You. Help me to be continually wrapped in that humility so that You can pour Your grace and strength into my weakness. Amen
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
2009 – Day 251.Sept 09 – God Will Reward
Passage of the Day: Job 23 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: My friend, who might be reading Chapter 23 again along with me, don’t you just want to scream out to Job, “Hey, my suffering Brother, every thing’s going to be okay. I’ve read the end of your story; and God’s going to reward your faith in the end.”
Yes, if you’ve read on ahead or know the last chapter of Job’s book, God restores all that the suffering servant has lost; and Job’s body is refigured into normal health and wellness. But right now, in Chapter 23, Job can’t see that. He’s at a loss to explain why God seems so distant and why he [Job] is sitting out on a garbage heap, having lost all his children and his wealth, and why he’s covered in boils. But somehow, even with a bunch of friends who are giving him intolerably bad advice, Job remains faithful.
And Swindoll points out that our hero makes three declarations of faith in one verse (verse 10) of this chapter. He says, "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." And we need to catch the import of what Job is saying here.
First Job is saying that God is in control, saying, in essence, that God knows what is going on. And secondly Job denies that it is somehow Job’s fault that he suffers, saying that it is God Whom has chosen to test him. And finally, Job expresses the ultimate in hopefulness, declaring that one day God is going to reward his (Job’s) faithfulness, as he declaring that God will one day reward him in some unique way. Read verse 10, Chapter 23 again. All three of those faithful declarations are there. And don’t you just want to slap Job on the back as say, “Right on, brother!!”
And that’s why when you read Chapter 23, we empathetically want to be the fourth friend for Job, telling him that we know the end of the story; and we can assure our brother that God will ultimately do everything he’s declaring in verse 10. But when you think about it, we Christians who live today, can say that about any set of circumstances in our lives which makes God feel distant and where we suffer loss or physical deprivation.
I’m sure as I write this there have been times in your life where things have really gone bad for you and where God seemed like He was totally AWOL. But in moments like those are we not being tested as to our belief in all those truths we declare are absolutely true in God’s word. Think of verses I’ve already quoted in our study of Job. And if we believe in the truth of 2nd Tim. 3: 16, that all Scripture (all of the Bible) is God breathed, then we have to believe that Hebrews 11: 6 is true where it says that our faith is going to be rewarded. And we have to believe in the truth of 1st Cor. 15: 52 … that one day in glory we’ll have new, incorruptible bodies, and that all the physical challenges of our lives will not be for naught. And knowing what Christ did for us on the cross, we’re also tested in this life to believe what Paul declared in Romans 8: 28 that all of the tests and trials we experience are for God’s good purpose.
My devotional friend, we who have and believe in the “end of the Book,” are tested by our trials in life, just as was Job, to believe that God is never going to leave us; … that our Lord always has His grand scheme in what we’re suffering; … and that in the end we’ll be rewarded for our faith. Job is one of our models for this; and Jesus is our ultimate model. I pray that we can take the tests of life and pass with flying colors so that we can give God the glory for what we go through, holding on the hope we have in our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, when we’re tested, help us to pass and come out shining Your light of faith for all to see You in the darkness of our suffering. Amen
My Journal for Today: My friend, who might be reading Chapter 23 again along with me, don’t you just want to scream out to Job, “Hey, my suffering Brother, every thing’s going to be okay. I’ve read the end of your story; and God’s going to reward your faith in the end.”
Yes, if you’ve read on ahead or know the last chapter of Job’s book, God restores all that the suffering servant has lost; and Job’s body is refigured into normal health and wellness. But right now, in Chapter 23, Job can’t see that. He’s at a loss to explain why God seems so distant and why he [Job] is sitting out on a garbage heap, having lost all his children and his wealth, and why he’s covered in boils. But somehow, even with a bunch of friends who are giving him intolerably bad advice, Job remains faithful.
And Swindoll points out that our hero makes three declarations of faith in one verse (verse 10) of this chapter. He says, "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." And we need to catch the import of what Job is saying here.
First Job is saying that God is in control, saying, in essence, that God knows what is going on. And secondly Job denies that it is somehow Job’s fault that he suffers, saying that it is God Whom has chosen to test him. And finally, Job expresses the ultimate in hopefulness, declaring that one day God is going to reward his (Job’s) faithfulness, as he declaring that God will one day reward him in some unique way. Read verse 10, Chapter 23 again. All three of those faithful declarations are there. And don’t you just want to slap Job on the back as say, “Right on, brother!!”
And that’s why when you read Chapter 23, we empathetically want to be the fourth friend for Job, telling him that we know the end of the story; and we can assure our brother that God will ultimately do everything he’s declaring in verse 10. But when you think about it, we Christians who live today, can say that about any set of circumstances in our lives which makes God feel distant and where we suffer loss or physical deprivation.
I’m sure as I write this there have been times in your life where things have really gone bad for you and where God seemed like He was totally AWOL. But in moments like those are we not being tested as to our belief in all those truths we declare are absolutely true in God’s word. Think of verses I’ve already quoted in our study of Job. And if we believe in the truth of 2nd Tim. 3: 16, that all Scripture (all of the Bible) is God breathed, then we have to believe that Hebrews 11: 6 is true where it says that our faith is going to be rewarded. And we have to believe in the truth of 1st Cor. 15: 52 … that one day in glory we’ll have new, incorruptible bodies, and that all the physical challenges of our lives will not be for naught. And knowing what Christ did for us on the cross, we’re also tested in this life to believe what Paul declared in Romans 8: 28 that all of the tests and trials we experience are for God’s good purpose.
My devotional friend, we who have and believe in the “end of the Book,” are tested by our trials in life, just as was Job, to believe that God is never going to leave us; … that our Lord always has His grand scheme in what we’re suffering; … and that in the end we’ll be rewarded for our faith. Job is one of our models for this; and Jesus is our ultimate model. I pray that we can take the tests of life and pass with flying colors so that we can give God the glory for what we go through, holding on the hope we have in our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, when we’re tested, help us to pass and come out shining Your light of faith for all to see You in the darkness of our suffering. Amen
Monday, August 10, 2009
2009 – Day 221.Aug 10 – Humble Submission
Passage of the Day: Job 1: 20 … Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
My Journal for Today: Just one sentence from the first chapter of Job is provided today to help us reflect on the reaction of Job when he learned, in rapid succession, of the devastation to his life which had be wrought by Satan who had been allowed by God to do what we read having been done to Job. However, from this one sentence, when one studies the Hebrew text, as my devotional guide Chuck Swindoll has done, we see our Godly hero responding in a series of actions to indicate his absolute and humble submission to God’s will in what had transpired.
Job’s first two actions were to arise and tear his robe, which was the way in the Hebrew culture of the day to public announce a state of horrible grief or utter anguish. For anyone who has unexpectedly lost a close loved one, especially a child, that person would be able to empathize – somewhat - with the grief of Job’s loss. But to lose ten children in one perceived “act of God;” well, that would be hard for any of us to imagine the level of grief being expressed by Job by the tearing of his outer garment.
The next action on Job’s part was to shave his head, which was another cultural expression of grief. The hair for a Jewish man, usually grown long, was an expression of personal glory; and when one shaved his head it was a way of declaring that that one had lost all things dear to him; and most certainly that is what had happened to Job.
Job had lost almost all which was had been given to him by God. Really, only his wife remained from his immediate family; and all of God’s blessings from the Lord’s providence had been taken from Job. But the loss of ALL of his children in what had to have been perceived by Job as an “act of God,” was certainly a total devastation to all that Job would have considered his glory; and shaving his head was his way of expressing, “it’s all gone!”
But then we have the final action from Job; and this intentional action speaks volumes as to how Job surrendered to God responds as he sees God allowing such devastation into his life. And let me emphasize that this final action was a very personal and intentional choice which demonstrated the attitude of Job toward the God Whom had given him all which had been taken away on that day of horrors. Our hero, Job, falls to his face, prostrate before God, and worships. As Swindoll put it, “He [Job] doesn’t wallow and wail; … he worships.” And if one reads on, we see the extent of Job’s humble surrender in worship. But we’ll explore that tomorrow as you can read that Job refuses to choose to be angry with God.
At this moment, however, Job has chosen to worship God rather than ask “WHY” of his Lord. And I maintain that this response was way beyond the realm of natural. No, … this response – and it was an intentional response – was an expression of super-natural faith and trust in God. And I speculate, and believe, that God, who had given Satan the right to do what he did to Job, foreknew that He would be giving Job a super-dose of enabling grace.
And herein we learn one of the most powerful lessons which I was taught years ago by my mentor, a biblical lesson which I have burned into my memory and heart from the New Testament; and that is the lesson of 1st Cor. 10: 13. And I pray that you have memorized and internalize this truth … that ... “No temptation (also translated ‘test, tribulation, or trial’) has overtaken you except such is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it (i.e.,, the trial, test, tribulation, or temptation).”
And we see that truth lived out and modeled here as Job is confronted with as an extreme of a trial or test as one could or would ever encounter. And his response was humble worship! Let me pray that this will be our response or reflex when we are tried in the fires of life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, give us Your strength to allow us to worship You through any trial which comes our way. Amen
My Journal for Today: Just one sentence from the first chapter of Job is provided today to help us reflect on the reaction of Job when he learned, in rapid succession, of the devastation to his life which had be wrought by Satan who had been allowed by God to do what we read having been done to Job. However, from this one sentence, when one studies the Hebrew text, as my devotional guide Chuck Swindoll has done, we see our Godly hero responding in a series of actions to indicate his absolute and humble submission to God’s will in what had transpired.
Job’s first two actions were to arise and tear his robe, which was the way in the Hebrew culture of the day to public announce a state of horrible grief or utter anguish. For anyone who has unexpectedly lost a close loved one, especially a child, that person would be able to empathize – somewhat - with the grief of Job’s loss. But to lose ten children in one perceived “act of God;” well, that would be hard for any of us to imagine the level of grief being expressed by Job by the tearing of his outer garment.
The next action on Job’s part was to shave his head, which was another cultural expression of grief. The hair for a Jewish man, usually grown long, was an expression of personal glory; and when one shaved his head it was a way of declaring that that one had lost all things dear to him; and most certainly that is what had happened to Job.
Job had lost almost all which was had been given to him by God. Really, only his wife remained from his immediate family; and all of God’s blessings from the Lord’s providence had been taken from Job. But the loss of ALL of his children in what had to have been perceived by Job as an “act of God,” was certainly a total devastation to all that Job would have considered his glory; and shaving his head was his way of expressing, “it’s all gone!”
But then we have the final action from Job; and this intentional action speaks volumes as to how Job surrendered to God responds as he sees God allowing such devastation into his life. And let me emphasize that this final action was a very personal and intentional choice which demonstrated the attitude of Job toward the God Whom had given him all which had been taken away on that day of horrors. Our hero, Job, falls to his face, prostrate before God, and worships. As Swindoll put it, “He [Job] doesn’t wallow and wail; … he worships.” And if one reads on, we see the extent of Job’s humble surrender in worship. But we’ll explore that tomorrow as you can read that Job refuses to choose to be angry with God.
At this moment, however, Job has chosen to worship God rather than ask “WHY” of his Lord. And I maintain that this response was way beyond the realm of natural. No, … this response – and it was an intentional response – was an expression of super-natural faith and trust in God. And I speculate, and believe, that God, who had given Satan the right to do what he did to Job, foreknew that He would be giving Job a super-dose of enabling grace.
And herein we learn one of the most powerful lessons which I was taught years ago by my mentor, a biblical lesson which I have burned into my memory and heart from the New Testament; and that is the lesson of 1st Cor. 10: 13. And I pray that you have memorized and internalize this truth … that ... “No temptation (also translated ‘test, tribulation, or trial’) has overtaken you except such is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it (i.e.,, the trial, test, tribulation, or temptation).”
And we see that truth lived out and modeled here as Job is confronted with as an extreme of a trial or test as one could or would ever encounter. And his response was humble worship! Let me pray that this will be our response or reflex when we are tried in the fires of life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, give us Your strength to allow us to worship You through any trial which comes our way. Amen
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
2009 – Day 83.Mar. 25 – Baby Steps
2009 – Day 83.Mar. 24 – Baby Steps
Passage of the Day: Exodus 15: 22 – 27 … 22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
My Journal for Today: A very good point is made by Chuck Swindoll in his devotional for today from Great Days with the Great Lives. And he uses this passage from Exodus 15 to show his readers, as God is showing us through His word in today’s passage, that often God uses tough travels in the wilderness to test and grow His children.
Swindoll points out that the God Who parted the Red Sea could have taken His people quickly and easily to the land of milk and honey in Canaan; but after crossing the Sea, God led them first to a place with poisonous water, which he made sweet to show the people that God provides and they needed to be dependent on His provision. And after this lesson was taught, God gave them the promise of good health and welfare in the desert. But the test and lesson of provision had to come first.
If you’ve been reading along with me, some time ago I quoted our dear, now departed, friend, Loretta Fields, who used to say often, “First obedience; … then the blessing.” And it’s true; … we don’t learn to be obedient and humble by going through life the easy way. No, as Swindoll writes, “… our spiritual roots only grow deep when the winds around us are strong.” And if I poled all who read here, I’d bet that most, if not all, of you would recall that you grew strongest when you were put through some test of fire.
In Scripture we often read of God using a word picture of His using life circumstances to burn away the dross from the silver to make it purer or stronger (see examples in Prov. 25: 4 or Is. 1: 25). And in today’s passage we have another Old Testament picture of God testing His children, as He does us, to shape us into the image of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. But our nature would desire the easy route and to avoid the heat, wouldn’t it? Who wants testing? “Just give us the good stuff, Lord!” That would be our sin nature talking.
But our God is actually merciful to lead us through the fire to find His bountiful blessings. We usually think of God’s “blessing” or His “grace” as being the warm-fuzzies of life. But the truth reveals that it is God’s GRACE which takes us through the fires of life to burn and purge the dross from our nature. Without the fires we would remain impure and weak. Yes, … a prayer like, “Lord, make me humble” or “God, help me to be patient” is often answered by life lessons, … tough situations, which shape our character so that we can become humble and patient, which are pre-conditions for God’s warm and fuzzy blessings.
So, as we wander through the wilderness of our lives, often feeling the heat of the desert, may we come to realize that this is God’s “blessing” of purification in our lives? He’s getting us ready for the greatest blessing of all, eternal life with our Lord in heaven; so, let’s all take one baby step after another in the desert so that we may be ready for what He has for us ahead in this life … and more importantly, … the next.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I may hesitate; … but I do pray for humility …so that You may bless me in Your way and in Your time. Amen
Passage of the Day: Exodus 15: 22 – 27 … 22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
My Journal for Today: A very good point is made by Chuck Swindoll in his devotional for today from Great Days with the Great Lives. And he uses this passage from Exodus 15 to show his readers, as God is showing us through His word in today’s passage, that often God uses tough travels in the wilderness to test and grow His children.
Swindoll points out that the God Who parted the Red Sea could have taken His people quickly and easily to the land of milk and honey in Canaan; but after crossing the Sea, God led them first to a place with poisonous water, which he made sweet to show the people that God provides and they needed to be dependent on His provision. And after this lesson was taught, God gave them the promise of good health and welfare in the desert. But the test and lesson of provision had to come first.
If you’ve been reading along with me, some time ago I quoted our dear, now departed, friend, Loretta Fields, who used to say often, “First obedience; … then the blessing.” And it’s true; … we don’t learn to be obedient and humble by going through life the easy way. No, as Swindoll writes, “… our spiritual roots only grow deep when the winds around us are strong.” And if I poled all who read here, I’d bet that most, if not all, of you would recall that you grew strongest when you were put through some test of fire.
In Scripture we often read of God using a word picture of His using life circumstances to burn away the dross from the silver to make it purer or stronger (see examples in Prov. 25: 4 or Is. 1: 25). And in today’s passage we have another Old Testament picture of God testing His children, as He does us, to shape us into the image of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. But our nature would desire the easy route and to avoid the heat, wouldn’t it? Who wants testing? “Just give us the good stuff, Lord!” That would be our sin nature talking.
But our God is actually merciful to lead us through the fire to find His bountiful blessings. We usually think of God’s “blessing” or His “grace” as being the warm-fuzzies of life. But the truth reveals that it is God’s GRACE which takes us through the fires of life to burn and purge the dross from our nature. Without the fires we would remain impure and weak. Yes, … a prayer like, “Lord, make me humble” or “God, help me to be patient” is often answered by life lessons, … tough situations, which shape our character so that we can become humble and patient, which are pre-conditions for God’s warm and fuzzy blessings.
So, as we wander through the wilderness of our lives, often feeling the heat of the desert, may we come to realize that this is God’s “blessing” of purification in our lives? He’s getting us ready for the greatest blessing of all, eternal life with our Lord in heaven; so, let’s all take one baby step after another in the desert so that we may be ready for what He has for us ahead in this life … and more importantly, … the next.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I may hesitate; … but I do pray for humility …so that You may bless me in Your way and in Your time. Amen
Monday, March 02, 2009
2009 - Day 60.Mar.2 - Also a Major In Discomfort
2009 – Day 60.Mar. 2 – Also a Major in Discomfort
Passage of the Day: Exodus 3: 1 … Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Acts 7: 29 – 30 … 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
My Journal for Today: Not only did Moses, in his coursework for Godly improvement in the wilderness of Sinai, major in obscurity (see yesterday’s journal entry), this former Prince of Egypt who had become a lowly shepherd of Midian, had a parallel major in discomfort. He went from the comforts of palace, to live the hot sands of the wilderness; and he took that course in discomfort for 40 long years before God appeared to His student to present him with God’s diploma. It was to be Moses’ graduation and commencement to the status of the redeemed.
But there was another, the greatest servant of the faith, … Jesus, Who was also subjected to a course in discomfort in the wilderness; and we read about that in the early portions of both Matthew 4 or Luke 4. No, it wasn’t 40 years, … it was 40 long, days and nights of fasting in the Negev. And in this encounter, Jesus, like Moses passed with flying colors … going on to redeem God’s people, … Moses for a season with God’s chosen people, … Jesus forever and for all mankind.
But what do we glean from these stories of trial and testing? We learn that, like God, the Father did with His Son, and The Lord did with Moses, our God will never leave us nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13: 5). We learn, as Swindoll so eloquently teaches in today’s devotional, God sandpapers away the resistant layers of our pride with obscurity and humility. God wears away our fears with time doing life obediently, … His way. And He rips away the walls of resentment or bitterness with solitude and our willingness to be forgiven by God and to learn to forgive others.
In the wilderness years, we learn from the courses of discomfort in our lives, which prepare us, with God’s grace, to move on, commencing to take on God’s kingdom plan for our life. I love what Swindoll writes on this, … “Reach for the hand of your Guide. He is the Lord of the desert. Make that YOUR desert. The most precious object of God’s love is His child in the desert. If it is possible, you mean more to Him during this time than any other time. You are the pupil of His eye. You are His beloved student taking His toughest courses. While testing you, He loves you with an intimate amount of love.”
Man, that’s good stuff! But when we’re going through the wilderness and the boring life of discomfort, it’s so easy to fall prey to an enemy who would want us to believe that God has turned His back on us and set us adrift … on our own. But being turned over to our own hearts will only occur when we are disobedient and faithless, believing Satan’s lies rather than God’s truths. That’s why God told Joshua in his wilderness trials when Moses died (see Joshua 1: 8) to stay in God’s word and believe all that is written in it.
We simply must not get deterred or discouraged by discomfort in our lives. It’s there for our good (once again, the truth of Romans 8: 28); and when we pass that course, God will have us ready for a life lived for His glory.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to pass your tests of discomfort so that I can serve you more powerfully. Amen
Passage of the Day: Exodus 3: 1 … Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Acts 7: 29 – 30 … 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
My Journal for Today: Not only did Moses, in his coursework for Godly improvement in the wilderness of Sinai, major in obscurity (see yesterday’s journal entry), this former Prince of Egypt who had become a lowly shepherd of Midian, had a parallel major in discomfort. He went from the comforts of palace, to live the hot sands of the wilderness; and he took that course in discomfort for 40 long years before God appeared to His student to present him with God’s diploma. It was to be Moses’ graduation and commencement to the status of the redeemed.
But there was another, the greatest servant of the faith, … Jesus, Who was also subjected to a course in discomfort in the wilderness; and we read about that in the early portions of both Matthew 4 or Luke 4. No, it wasn’t 40 years, … it was 40 long, days and nights of fasting in the Negev. And in this encounter, Jesus, like Moses passed with flying colors … going on to redeem God’s people, … Moses for a season with God’s chosen people, … Jesus forever and for all mankind.
But what do we glean from these stories of trial and testing? We learn that, like God, the Father did with His Son, and The Lord did with Moses, our God will never leave us nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13: 5). We learn, as Swindoll so eloquently teaches in today’s devotional, God sandpapers away the resistant layers of our pride with obscurity and humility. God wears away our fears with time doing life obediently, … His way. And He rips away the walls of resentment or bitterness with solitude and our willingness to be forgiven by God and to learn to forgive others.
In the wilderness years, we learn from the courses of discomfort in our lives, which prepare us, with God’s grace, to move on, commencing to take on God’s kingdom plan for our life. I love what Swindoll writes on this, … “Reach for the hand of your Guide. He is the Lord of the desert. Make that YOUR desert. The most precious object of God’s love is His child in the desert. If it is possible, you mean more to Him during this time than any other time. You are the pupil of His eye. You are His beloved student taking His toughest courses. While testing you, He loves you with an intimate amount of love.”
Man, that’s good stuff! But when we’re going through the wilderness and the boring life of discomfort, it’s so easy to fall prey to an enemy who would want us to believe that God has turned His back on us and set us adrift … on our own. But being turned over to our own hearts will only occur when we are disobedient and faithless, believing Satan’s lies rather than God’s truths. That’s why God told Joshua in his wilderness trials when Moses died (see Joshua 1: 8) to stay in God’s word and believe all that is written in it.
We simply must not get deterred or discouraged by discomfort in our lives. It’s there for our good (once again, the truth of Romans 8: 28); and when we pass that course, God will have us ready for a life lived for His glory.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to pass your tests of discomfort so that I can serve you more powerfully. Amen
Sunday, January 11, 2009
2009 - Day 11 - Grace To Endure
January 11, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Grace To Endure
Passage of the Day: Genesis 40: 20 – 41: 1 ... 40: 20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. 41: 1 … 1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
My Journal for Today: Okay, yesterday, and repeated today, we were reminded about the story of our protagonist, Joseph, being passed over and forgotten by the cupbearer when Pharaoh’s butler was released from prison. Joseph had confidently told him of God’s interpretation of the dream which would have this man being forgiven by Pharaoh. And when the cupbearer was released as the dream had indicated, Joseph had to have thought, “Well, here’s my ticket out of here.”
But as Swindoll in his devotional book for today reminds us, Joseph waited and waited and waited. For TWO LONG YEARS he waited; and it would have been very human for him to think, “What gives, God? Why am I being left behind in here?” But he didn’t think that. For those two years, as Swindoll writes, “This remarkable man … continued to wait – to trust – to hope – and to lean on God.” And any of us who have felt or now feel like we’ve been passed over or mistreated or put down, need to see this example of Godly patience in action. As we should know from the truth of 1st Cor. 10: 13 (and you really need to have that one memorized and internalized), God will always give us the grace of endurance if we believe and recognize that He would not have us go through any trial without our being able to, with His faithful help, handle the test.
As I said yesterday, and it’s worthy of repeating, … when we’re being tested by the trials of life, we have to intentionally go into an expectant waiting mode, knowing God’s truth (as we need to have verses like, and I repeat Romans 8: 28 or Proverbs 3: 5, 6 or a Hebrews 13: 5 deeply imbedded in our heart) that He will never abandon us and He always is using our life circumstances to prepare us for HIS future plans and to shape us into HIS image [see Phil. 1: 6]. Instead of relenting to the very natural tendency to say “WHY,” we need to be asking, “WHAT, Lord, do you want me to learn from this which makes me more like You?”
Oh, I know that’s a tough attitude to take or to have. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we don’t want to have to take on God’s cup of trial or testing; but if it’s to be, we have to have our Lord’s, and Joseph’s, attitude of “If it’s Your will, Father, I accept it.”
Two more long years did Joseph languish in that prison where he had been thrown unjustly. Think about it … two more years in that dark, dank, dungeon. Yet, with God’s enabling grace, giving Joseph the power to endure, he waited as God shaped him by this experience. For what he didn’t know; but God’s grace of endurance did allow Joseph to trust that God was testing him through the caldron of life to burn off some dross from his soul, purifying and preparing him for some Godly purpose ahead.
Oh, how I pray that I can have this patient endurance when the tests/trials of life come in the future, no matter how harsh or unjust (from man’s viewpoint) they might be. May I wait and have the hope of a Joseph that I’m being prepared for God’s purposes in His time and in His way.
My Prayer Today: Oh, I don’t want tough trials, Lord; but if they are what You need to shape me to be more like You, bring them on; and give me Your grace of patience to endure. Amen
Passage of the Day: Genesis 40: 20 – 41: 1 ... 40: 20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. 41: 1 … 1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
My Journal for Today: Okay, yesterday, and repeated today, we were reminded about the story of our protagonist, Joseph, being passed over and forgotten by the cupbearer when Pharaoh’s butler was released from prison. Joseph had confidently told him of God’s interpretation of the dream which would have this man being forgiven by Pharaoh. And when the cupbearer was released as the dream had indicated, Joseph had to have thought, “Well, here’s my ticket out of here.”
But as Swindoll in his devotional book for today reminds us, Joseph waited and waited and waited. For TWO LONG YEARS he waited; and it would have been very human for him to think, “What gives, God? Why am I being left behind in here?” But he didn’t think that. For those two years, as Swindoll writes, “This remarkable man … continued to wait – to trust – to hope – and to lean on God.” And any of us who have felt or now feel like we’ve been passed over or mistreated or put down, need to see this example of Godly patience in action. As we should know from the truth of 1st Cor. 10: 13 (and you really need to have that one memorized and internalized), God will always give us the grace of endurance if we believe and recognize that He would not have us go through any trial without our being able to, with His faithful help, handle the test.
As I said yesterday, and it’s worthy of repeating, … when we’re being tested by the trials of life, we have to intentionally go into an expectant waiting mode, knowing God’s truth (as we need to have verses like, and I repeat Romans 8: 28 or Proverbs 3: 5, 6 or a Hebrews 13: 5 deeply imbedded in our heart) that He will never abandon us and He always is using our life circumstances to prepare us for HIS future plans and to shape us into HIS image [see Phil. 1: 6]. Instead of relenting to the very natural tendency to say “WHY,” we need to be asking, “WHAT, Lord, do you want me to learn from this which makes me more like You?”
Oh, I know that’s a tough attitude to take or to have. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we don’t want to have to take on God’s cup of trial or testing; but if it’s to be, we have to have our Lord’s, and Joseph’s, attitude of “If it’s Your will, Father, I accept it.”
Two more long years did Joseph languish in that prison where he had been thrown unjustly. Think about it … two more years in that dark, dank, dungeon. Yet, with God’s enabling grace, giving Joseph the power to endure, he waited as God shaped him by this experience. For what he didn’t know; but God’s grace of endurance did allow Joseph to trust that God was testing him through the caldron of life to burn off some dross from his soul, purifying and preparing him for some Godly purpose ahead.
Oh, how I pray that I can have this patient endurance when the tests/trials of life come in the future, no matter how harsh or unjust (from man’s viewpoint) they might be. May I wait and have the hope of a Joseph that I’m being prepared for God’s purposes in His time and in His way.
My Prayer Today: Oh, I don’t want tough trials, Lord; but if they are what You need to shape me to be more like You, bring them on; and give me Your grace of patience to endure. Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
