Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing, … He’ll Do Whatever It Takes, worshipfully declaring the reality of God being willing to break us to a place where we can receive His empowering grace.
Highlight Passage: Psalm 119:75 [NKJV] …
75 … I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
… But in affliction, too often, we lose our sense of perspective with our God.
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Highlight Context – Psalm 119:71-75 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist yields to God’s judgment, even afflictions, being for his good.
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Reference Passage #1 - Romans 8:28 [NKJV] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
… A truth which many Christians find so, so difficult to deal with.
Reference Passage #2 - 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul learned that he must accept the afflictions to remain humble and receive God’s empowering grace.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Dennis Fisher, tells a personal story to illustrate a difficult truth. . He wrote: During World War II my dad served with the US Army in the South Pacific. During that time Dad rejected any idea of religion, saying, “I don’t need a crutch.” Yet the day came when his attitude toward spiritual things would change forever. Mom had gone into labor with their third child, and my brother and I went to bed with the excitement of soon seeing our new brother or sister. When I got out of bed the next morning, I excitedly asked Dad, “Is it a boy or a girl?” He replied, “It was a little girl but she was born dead.” We began to weep together at our loss.
For the first time, Dad took his broken heart to Jesus in prayer. At that moment he felt an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort from God, though his daughter would always be irreplaceable. Soon he began to take an interest in the Bible and continued to pray to the One who was healing his broken heart. His faith grew through the years. He became a strong follower of Jesus—serving Him as a Bible-study teacher and a leader in his church.
I don’t know about others reading with me here; but I don’t like pain. Affliction hurts!! And when I hurt, I have a knee-jerk tendency to go to the old “WHY ME, GOD!” attitude. Today I read in Psalm 119:71-75 (see above) from the OBD entry, of one who was able to keep a strong, “YOU’RE IN CONTROL, GOD!” attitude in the face of affliction. Well, to be quite honest … that’s tough, isn’t it?
Even a very mature Apostle, Paul, had to learn that lesson the hard way; and we read in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 about God having to allow Paul to go through a very painful “thorn” experience to learn that God’s grace would carry him through any trial or affliction; and he went on to encourage other Christians of this truth via Romans 8:28, which is one of the toughest passages for any of us to handle in life at times.
But handle it, we must; ... and we need to remain humble to realize that God’s grace truly is sufficient to allow us to deal with the trials and afflictions of life. Perhaps, like me, you need some of that grace today.
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … Lord, give us Your grace to be able to deal with the afflictions of this life. 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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