Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Crystal Lewis and Ron Kenoly singing Beauty for Ashes… declaring the truth that God is always willing to help us see beauty in the face of the ashes of life.
Highlight Passage: Psalm 77: 13 [NKJV] …
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great as our God?
… Asaph finally sees God the way we all should see Him.
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Highlight Context – Psalm 77:1-15 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist shows several ways to look at life
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalm 119: 105 [NKJV] …
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
… We all need to use His truth (i.e., the Bible) to help us see His path.
Reference Passage #2 - Proverbs 3: 5-6[NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… We can see God’s path only when we trust Him to lead us.
Reference Passage #3 - Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
3 You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, [LORD] because he trusts in You.
… We see best and find peace through the eyes of trust.
Reference Passage #4 - Habakkuk 1:3; 2:1; 3:17-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Habakkuk’s vision changes as He comes to seek God humbly and trust in Him.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Anne Cetas, uses the nearsightedness of a tired mother [see attached photo] to teach about our clarity of vision as a Christian, coming through our degree of trust in God. The mother in according to Cetas, was tired and downhearted from her duties as a mom. And she went to church and got a new perspective on how to look at life. She heard of three ways to look at life through the eyes of Asaph, the author of Psalm 77 (see highlight passage linked above).
1. Seeing life through HELPLESS eyes, … taking our hurts and hangups directly to God when we can’t see the forest for the trees. That’s what Asaph did in Psalm 77:7-9, being willing to honestly take the tough questions directly to God. It’s what the confused Prophet, Habakkuk, did as well (see Habakkuk 1:3).
2. Seeing life through HONEST eyes, … being willing to try to see and remember what God has done for us in the past. Asaph (in Ps. 77: 10-12) stopped and remembered what God had done for His people. Habakkuk (in Chapter 2:1) also stopped to wait for God to show His ways to the Prophet. We all can see more and find more peace when we’re willing to wait on Him and to seek His mind (see Prov. 3: 5-6 and Isaiah 23:3).
3. Seeing Life through HOPEFUL eyes, … choosing to trust in God and see Him though the eyes of faith rather than human reason. Asaph (see Ps. 77: 13-14) came to the place of simply trusting God by choosing to recognize and rely on His greatness and promises, … as did Habakkuk as well in Hab. 3:17-18. And when we are willing to view life through the hopeful eyes of faith, nothing can steal our joy.
How about it, my following friend? How are we seeing life these days [?] … Through the eyes of fear or faith; … through the eyes of worry or worship, … through the eyes of confusion or clarity? I pray it's the latter in each case.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Shine a light on my path clearly, O Lord, as You promise in Ps. 119:105, so that I can see and follow Your path. … 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.
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