Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing their song … All Is Well, declaring the reality of God’s caring grace in the lives of all who trust and wait Him.
Highlight Passage: Psalm 37: 1 [NKJV] …
1 Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
… Trust in God, delight ourselves in Him, and commit our ways to His and we need not worry.
============
Highlight Context – Psalm 37:1-9 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David had God’s anti-anxiety prescription.
============
Reference Passage #1 - Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon, David’s son, adds his emphasis from God as to how we must use our trust in God to lead us and assuage anxiety.
Reference Passage #2 - Isaiah 26:3 [NKJV] …
3 You will keep him (the believer) in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in you.
… No need to worry when we hold our focus on and trust in God.
Reference Passage #3 - Philippians 4: 6-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Another of God’s prescriptions against stress and anxiety.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Dave Branon, reminded me in his teaching this morning of something which is hotly in the news right now. Just a few days ago, two terrorists opened fire in a crowded office in California and killed some innocent folks; and this has been the pattern for many years now as the media coverage creates waves of anxiety for many people.
Actually, one might say that a little over a decade ago (see attached photo), Satan and his henchmen took the post-modern world of stress to a much higher, and more debilitating, level when, on the morning of 9-11-01, we were awakened in the USA with the twin-towers of the World Trade Center being felled by terrorists. And since then, over and over again, as this past week, we’ve had occasional horrible reminders that Satan’s world is doing all it can to bring down the trust and confidence mankind has in God’s control.
But make no mistake, my fellow Christian readers, … GOD IS IN CONTROL!! And if we’re truly surrendered to Him the way we should be, we have HIS assurances, as Phillips, Craig, Dean wrote and sang, … that All Is Well!. Going back as far as King David, God has given us His anti-anxiety prescriptions in His word. Meditating on the Psalm 37 passage above, David sings God’s assurance in the face of fret/worry … IF … we’re surrendered to trust in Him [v. 3], delight ourselves in Him (v. 4), and commit our ways to His (v. 5 - and Ps. 3:5-6), we can expect to rest in His watch care (v. 7).
However, all too often we let our deceit-ridden hearts (see Jer. 17:9) react to acts of terror by focusing on fear rather than resting in our faith that God is in control. And dear one, He has a plan, which was far more powerful on Calvary than Satan’s terror was on 911. And because of God’s ultimate plan, after the resurrection of Jesus, Satan is on the run and he’s doing all he can [and that’s a lot!!] to tear the faith of Christians away from the truth of God’s love and His redemptive plan.
So, my friend, today (and always), let’s revert to God’s prescription for anxiety, spelled out clearly by Paul in Philippians 4:6-7; and when/if we feel anxious, let’s unload it on God, praying and resting and trusting in the hope we have in our Lord and Savior.
My Prayer Today: Oh, dear Lord, … no matter what the enemy may perpetrate, I KNOW that you have things under control and there’s no need to worry. … 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