Devotional Songs: ... GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Steven Curtis Chapman singing the lyrics he wrote in His Strength Is Perfect, declaring our need to let our God cover our weakness; … and THEN USE THIS LINK to hear Chapman sing another of his songs, Hiding Place, also expressing our need to trust God to protect us in the storms of life.
Highlight Passage Psalm 40: 1-2 [ESV] …
1 I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
… David had learned to rely on God when he was “stuck in the mud”
============
Highlight Context - Psalm 40 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David learned, through many instances where he had to rely on God, to trust His Lord’s strength to deliver him in these times of weakness.
============
Reference Passage #1 - Deuteronomy 31: 6, 8 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Moses encouraging Joshua and God’s people as they were about to enter the Promised Land … scary times, requiring more faith than ever to rely on God.
Reference Passage #2 - Proverbs 3: 5-6 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon knew that trusting in God is the ONLY way to go.
Reference Passage #3 - Matthew 11: 28-30 [ESV] …
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
… Jesus invites His disciples (that’s us!) to yoke ourselves to His strength.
Reference Passage #4 - John 16: 33 [ESV] …
33 … “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
… God doesn’t promise us that we’ll have no trials, … no, He just promises that HE has overcome those trials and will give us His peace in the midst of the trials.
Reference Passage #5 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 [ESV] …
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
… Paul was really “deep in the mud” of pain when he remembered Jesus’ teaching on God’s grace being enough when he (Paul) was weak.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Marion Stroud, using the ODB title I copied for my journal entry today, writes of a time when his car was swept off the road and into the mud, where his vehicle was “stuck in the mud” and he desperately needed help. And all of a sudden two young strong boys (like the ones in the attached photo) were there to volunteer to help push Stroud to the road and solid ground.
We all have times when we get “stuck in the mud” in life, don’t we? Well, King David sure did in his eventful life; and in Psalm 40 [linked above], David writes about what he learned from such times … to surrender and rely on God. And if any reader here takes in God’s truth above in the Scripture passages provided, if you do in fact, as do I, believe that God’s word is ABSOLUTELY TRUE, you’ll have to come away with the realization that God may not take away the muddy times in life; but as our Overcomer, He does provide the grace and the strength to “get out of the mud” and using God’s strength we can overcome our weakness and get back on solid ground.
If you haven’t done so, please take the time to use the above You Tube links and listen to the songs written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman; and then meditate on how we can rely on our God to help us get “out of the mud” and move forward on solid ground.
My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … I rely on Your strength to pull me out of the mud. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment