Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube images and song with Laura Story singing her song … Blessings … poignantly singing of how our faith and trust in God is often tested when He says “NO” or brings us His blessings in the disguise of troubles.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Isaiah 25:9 [NLT] … 9 In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in Him, and He saved us!This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation He brings!”
… God will always be there for the remnant of trusting, surrendered believers.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah, Chapters 24-25 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Isaiah spells out God saying a big time “NO” to God’s people in Chapt 24; then for the remnant of trusting believers, He says an even bigger “YES,” showing the ultimate restoration and salvation of those who trust in our God.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Trusting God when it makes no sense is the real test of faith.
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:28 [NLT] … 28 And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
… Not SOME THINGS … but EVERYTHING!!
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 [NLT] … 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it [the painful thorn] away. 9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… Paul came to humbly realize that God’s “No” was just His grace in disguise.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Leslie Koh, uses a personal remembrance of a challenge in life to show that we must trust in God even when He says “NO” to our desires. The ODB author writes … When I was conscripted into the military at age eighteen, as all young Singaporean men are, I prayed desperately for an easy posting. A clerk or driver, perhaps. Not being particularly strong, I hoped to be spared the rigors of combat training. But one evening as I read my Bible, one verse leaped off the page: “My grace is sufficient for you . . .” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
My heart dropped—but it shouldn’t have. God had answered my prayers. Even if I received a difficult assignment, He would provide for me.
So I ended up as an armored infantryman, doing things I didn’t always enjoy. Looking back now, I’m grateful God didn’t give me what I wanted. The training and experience toughened me physically and mentally and gave me confidence to enter adulthood.
I’m not a betting man, but I would wager that any/all reading here can look back, as Christians, on circumstances we did not desire - or even hated - but times which turned out to be be, as Laura Story sings, … “blessings in disguise.”
We humans are really self serving creatures, aren’t we? We want life to go our way, … to be in control ALWAYS! And we Christian-type Christians often shape our prayers to reduce our pain and soothe the road of life. Common, … admit it; … we do, … don’t we?!
But the reality is that the tough times in life, … those times when God says “NO” to our prayers, are the most powerful teaching moments in our lives. Just as went the Apostle Paul sustained a “thorn” (see 2Cor. 12); and he prayed and prayed for relief; but God said “NO,” and he lived out the rest of his live with the pain from that “thorn,” … learning that God’s grace is ALWAYS sufficient!
And just as Paul learned, we need to realize that God’s “NO” is ALWAYS for our good (see Romans 8:28. And we need to trust His ways … ALWAYS … as He leads us down the path of life (see Proverbs 3:5-6). I pray we do!!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your ever sustaining, ever helpful grace.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, recognize and praise You, even when You’re saying “NO” to help us to become more like You. … 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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