Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman singing his song … Be Still and Know … Poignantly singing of how we can see and know the best there is to see in this world; and it is a mere reflection of God’s glory to com.
=============
Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 27:4 [NLT] … 4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, … to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
… David’s one desire, … even as his life was in jeopardy.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 27:1-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… David, being pursued by Saul, in danger of his life, rests and is uplifted by his relationship with God.
=============
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Psalms 63:1-4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Again David in the desert turning to God in times of trial.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… No matter what our feelings are telling us we must trust in the hope of our relationship with Christ.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Romans 8:28 [NLT] … 28 And we know that IN ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
… Yes, ALL THINGS … NO MATTER WHAT!!
Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2 Corinthians 12: 9 [NLT] … 9 But He [Jesus] said to me [Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
… We can ALWAYS rely on God’s grace … no matter how dire the circumstances are.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Dave Branon, used as story about a dying coach to illustrate how God’s grace can work in the worst of circumstances. The ODB author wrote: I love looking at the Grand Canyon [see photo]. Whenever I stand at the canyon rim I see new brushstrokes of God’s handiwork that take my breath away.
Even though it’s just a (very large) “hole” in the ground, the Grand Canyon causes me to reflect on heaven. A very honest twelve-year-old asked me once, “Won’t heaven be boring? Don’t you think we’ll get tired of praising God all the time?” But if a “hole in the ground” can be so overwhelmingly beautiful we can’t stop looking at it, we can only imagine the joy of one day seeing the very Source of beauty—our loving Creator—in all of the pristine wonder of the new creation.
Certainly David, whose life was threatened as he ran from King Saul in the wilderness, had never seen anything as magnificent as the Grand Canyon at sunset [again, see photo]. But in his life young days David, the shepherd, had seen many wonders … such as his ability to protect the sheep from bears and lions. And he knew of His God’s strength which had allowed him defeat Goliath. And when David’s very life was in jeopardy, His God was the ONLY ONE he sought (as we read in Psalms 27 and 63).
When things go awry in our lives, do we turn to our Lord and seek God’s glory? I’ve been blessed to see and experience the magnificence of God’s creation, looking up into the Canadian rockies, … or joyously tickling the underbelly of a sting ray in the Caribbean, … or watching the sunset gloriously on the beaches of the French Riviera or Hawaii or Florida, … all sights which proclaim the glory of my God. But none of those things can - or will - approach the glory of what my Lord will put before my eyes in Heaven.
So, today, if I am confronted with ill-begotten challenges, I will, as did David, turn to my faith and hope in my relationship with the Creator of all I’ve ever seen and experienced; … and I will seek to praise my King Jesus!
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Today I pray that all reading here join me in hope-filled praise to Your glorious Name, dear Lord. … 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