Study from God’s Word… Lamentations, Chapters 1 and 2 … Passage for Reflection: Lamentations 1: 20 … NIV [Jeremiah, singing the lament of “Jacob”] “See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.”
My Journal for Today: As I read Jeremiah’s lamentation, I feel great empathy. I was once like Israel or Judah, ignoring my God and falling prey to my own selfish sinfulness. And I became captive to the consequences of my sin. Also like Israel and Judah, it took a cataclysm of brokenness for me to realize that I had to bring my brokenness to God and surrender to His will, living His way, and following His word.
And now, perhaps like Jeremiah, I see clearly the waste that comes from choosing to ignore God in disobedience; and I grieve, not only for all the years I lost, living in my own sinfulness; but I grieve for others whom I know will have to be broken to the core of their being before they realize the ramifications of their own personal disobedience. I feel some of the same grief Jeremiah must’ve felt, seeing God’s children languishing in the consequences of their sin and having to come to the place of confession and cleansing before their God.
But even though I identify with the grieve expressed in Lamentations, I have come to know and proclaim the hope and victory one can have when he’s willing to surrender self to the Savior and receive the free saving and sanctifying grace offered by our Messiah, Jesus Christ. From the depths of despair, any believer in Jesus Christ can be – and will be – lifted to the heights of hope if he (or she) is able to die to self and follow Jesus (see Luke 9: 23 and 1st John 1: 9). Taking our crosses to the foot of His is the only way to shed the grief of our past and to live in the hope of His future.
And no more need be said as the remedy of the grief expressed by Jeremiah than to look to The Messiah.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, You are the hope … and the only hope. Amen
Showing posts with label despair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label despair. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
2010 – June 06 – When Prayers Get Desperate
Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 22: 29-36 [2nd Chron. 18: 28-34]; 2nd Chron. 19: 1-3; 1st Kings 22: 37-40, 52-53; 1st Kings 3: 4-5; 2nd Chron. 20: 1 – 37; 2nd Kings 1: 2-18; 2nd Kings 3: 1-3 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 20: 12 … NIV [Jehoshaphat praying when Judah was being invaded by the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites] For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but are eyes are upon You.
My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith is right with his contention in today’s devotional that we’ve all likely been in some situation of desperation, where the circumstances were overwhelming and there was no place to go within our own selves, and where things likely seemed hopeless. That’s where Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, was in the readings from 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles where I was lead to read in the OT today.
And the highlighted verse comes from 2nd Chronicles 20: 12, which was Jehoshaphat’s desperate prayer to God in the Temple, before the people of Judah, acknowledging that the armies of Judah (and God) were woefully inadequate to fight against the pagan armies which were invading their land. And this man’s prayer, as Dr. Smith aptly points out, is a model of how we should pray, both in attitude and wording specific to our circumstances, when we acknowledge that only God can take care of the situation.
As Dr. Smith points out, any desperate situation and our prayer to God in such circumstances requires three components. First, is our acknowledgement of Whom we serve, … i.e., recognizing that God is God and we are not. Secondly, we need to come to God with a thankful heart for what God has done in our past. A thankful heart is evidence to all and to God that we are truly humble; and only in humility can God pour His empowering grace (certainly never when we have a prideful heart [see Proverbs 3: 34]). And finally, any prayer of desperation is sealed with the open, honest, and vulnerable plea to God for His intervention.
Later, after Jehoshaphat had prayed desperately to God such a prayer in almost hopeless circumstances, the Spirit of the Lord came to one of the prophets in Judah, who spoke for God saying, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
My friend, if you’re in a desperate situation which requires surrender and a plea for God to intervene in your circumstances, take the course Jehoshaphat took, and come to God with the attitude expressed in God’s word from passages like Isaiah 41: 10, Romans 8: 31, or 2nd Tim. 1: 7 (and I’m assuming that you know and believe what these verses truthfully express). We should never hold onto anxiety; should we? (You know what it says in Phil. 4: 6-7.) No, we need not be hopeless or even anxious; because, as with Jehoshaphat, we have someone to go to Whom we can always rely upon in desperate circumstances [see 1st Peter 5: 7]. And there are no circumstances He can’t handle [as we know from Luke 1: 37]. The question is not whether these passages and promises, which uplift us in times of desperation, are true; it’s whether we believe them and are willing to come to our God, acknowledging Him for Whom He is, thanking Him for where He has led us to that point in life, and to plea in our desperation, believing that we’re praying to a God where nothing is impossible.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You know my heart; and I truly believe and pray to the same God in Whom Jehoshaphat believed and prayed. Amen
My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith is right with his contention in today’s devotional that we’ve all likely been in some situation of desperation, where the circumstances were overwhelming and there was no place to go within our own selves, and where things likely seemed hopeless. That’s where Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, was in the readings from 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles where I was lead to read in the OT today.
And the highlighted verse comes from 2nd Chronicles 20: 12, which was Jehoshaphat’s desperate prayer to God in the Temple, before the people of Judah, acknowledging that the armies of Judah (and God) were woefully inadequate to fight against the pagan armies which were invading their land. And this man’s prayer, as Dr. Smith aptly points out, is a model of how we should pray, both in attitude and wording specific to our circumstances, when we acknowledge that only God can take care of the situation.
As Dr. Smith points out, any desperate situation and our prayer to God in such circumstances requires three components. First, is our acknowledgement of Whom we serve, … i.e., recognizing that God is God and we are not. Secondly, we need to come to God with a thankful heart for what God has done in our past. A thankful heart is evidence to all and to God that we are truly humble; and only in humility can God pour His empowering grace (certainly never when we have a prideful heart [see Proverbs 3: 34]). And finally, any prayer of desperation is sealed with the open, honest, and vulnerable plea to God for His intervention.
Later, after Jehoshaphat had prayed desperately to God such a prayer in almost hopeless circumstances, the Spirit of the Lord came to one of the prophets in Judah, who spoke for God saying, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
My friend, if you’re in a desperate situation which requires surrender and a plea for God to intervene in your circumstances, take the course Jehoshaphat took, and come to God with the attitude expressed in God’s word from passages like Isaiah 41: 10, Romans 8: 31, or 2nd Tim. 1: 7 (and I’m assuming that you know and believe what these verses truthfully express). We should never hold onto anxiety; should we? (You know what it says in Phil. 4: 6-7.) No, we need not be hopeless or even anxious; because, as with Jehoshaphat, we have someone to go to Whom we can always rely upon in desperate circumstances [see 1st Peter 5: 7]. And there are no circumstances He can’t handle [as we know from Luke 1: 37]. The question is not whether these passages and promises, which uplift us in times of desperation, are true; it’s whether we believe them and are willing to come to our God, acknowledging Him for Whom He is, thanking Him for where He has led us to that point in life, and to plea in our desperation, believing that we’re praying to a God where nothing is impossible.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You know my heart; and I truly believe and pray to the same God in Whom Jehoshaphat believed and prayed. Amen
Friday, May 07, 2010
2010 – May 7 – Longing for God
Study from God’s Word… Psalms 42, 53, 58, 81, and 101 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 42: 1 – 2 … NIV As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My Journal for Today: I’m afraid that F. LaGard Smith has nailed me in his devotional this morning as he asks, ”Am I content to merely sing about panting and thirsting when God calls me to pant for Him on a more desperate level?” Smith recognizes how often churches or Christians sing the words of today’s Psalmist from Psalm 42; but he wonders if there are any Christians who, possibly like the persecuted Christians in China or the Middle East, who desperately seek after a God Who must seem distant from them. But nonetheless they “pant after God,” having a faith which is hard for me to fathom, even seeking after my God as I sit here morning after morning, trying my best to know my God and seek His purposes for my life.
Yes, I do long for my God; but do I “pant after Him” as one might who is about to die from lack of water or someone who is gasping for air to live, not being able to get enough oxygen to support life? I’m afraid Dr. Smith’s intent with his devotional question has convicted this Christian to the core. I just don’t “pant” enough for my God.
My desire to know God, … to seek after His character, … or to pursue His purposes is more a head-level pursuit than a heart-level desire. But right now it’s all I can muster; and in this I once again recall the interaction between Jesus and Peter, documented in John 21: 15 – 20 where our Lord restored Peter who was totally despondent after having failed Christ so miserably.
And when we read Peter’s letter in 2nd Peter, we see how much this Apostle had been restored and renewed in his faith, to the point in 2nd Peter 1: 1 – 11 we read of a regenerated disciple exhorting other disciples – like me – to move forward and choose to follow Christ the way Peter had learned, after being restored by Christ, to witness for the Lord right up to the end of his life.
Well, maybe I don’t have a heart at this point which “pants” after my Lord. But I do have a love for Him [“phileo,” if not “agape”] which voluntarily seeks to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him to the utmost of my heart/mind. And like Jesus charged Peter on that shore in Capernaum centuries ago [again see John 21: 15 – 20 - linked], I will go forth, following my Lord, to the extent of my ability to do so. And like Peter did, I will do so, desiring – if not panting – to be Christ’s disciple by following Him.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I follow You; I seek after You. If you create the need, I will “pant” after You. But now, know that I am Your disciple. Amen
My Journal for Today: I’m afraid that F. LaGard Smith has nailed me in his devotional this morning as he asks, ”Am I content to merely sing about panting and thirsting when God calls me to pant for Him on a more desperate level?” Smith recognizes how often churches or Christians sing the words of today’s Psalmist from Psalm 42; but he wonders if there are any Christians who, possibly like the persecuted Christians in China or the Middle East, who desperately seek after a God Who must seem distant from them. But nonetheless they “pant after God,” having a faith which is hard for me to fathom, even seeking after my God as I sit here morning after morning, trying my best to know my God and seek His purposes for my life.
Yes, I do long for my God; but do I “pant after Him” as one might who is about to die from lack of water or someone who is gasping for air to live, not being able to get enough oxygen to support life? I’m afraid Dr. Smith’s intent with his devotional question has convicted this Christian to the core. I just don’t “pant” enough for my God.
My desire to know God, … to seek after His character, … or to pursue His purposes is more a head-level pursuit than a heart-level desire. But right now it’s all I can muster; and in this I once again recall the interaction between Jesus and Peter, documented in John 21: 15 – 20 where our Lord restored Peter who was totally despondent after having failed Christ so miserably.
And when we read Peter’s letter in 2nd Peter, we see how much this Apostle had been restored and renewed in his faith, to the point in 2nd Peter 1: 1 – 11 we read of a regenerated disciple exhorting other disciples – like me – to move forward and choose to follow Christ the way Peter had learned, after being restored by Christ, to witness for the Lord right up to the end of his life.
Well, maybe I don’t have a heart at this point which “pants” after my Lord. But I do have a love for Him [“phileo,” if not “agape”] which voluntarily seeks to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him to the utmost of my heart/mind. And like Jesus charged Peter on that shore in Capernaum centuries ago [again see John 21: 15 – 20 - linked], I will go forth, following my Lord, to the extent of my ability to do so. And like Peter did, I will do so, desiring – if not panting – to be Christ’s disciple by following Him.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I follow You; I seek after You. If you create the need, I will “pant” after You. But now, know that I am Your disciple. Amen
Friday, May 08, 2009
2009 – Day 127.May 08 – “A Very Present Help”
2009 – Day 127.May 08 – “A Very Present Help”
Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 30: 1 – 6 … Linked to 1st Samuel 30 for your study …
My Journal for Today: Down about as far as he could go; so, where does David turn? He’s tired and depressed; and he no doubt was worried about the loss of the women and children under his leadership, including two of his own wives who’d been captured by the Amalekites, a fearsome warrior tribe of the time. What was the king-to-be to do? No where to look, but up; and that’s exactly where David turned. Read 1st Samuel, verse 6; and we read that David was strengthened by His Lord.
Perhaps you’re in a place of despair and seeming hopelessness even as you read this. Maybe it’s the lousy economy which has you down and almost out. Perhaps it’s a diagnosis of cancer. Or maybe it’s a relational problem in your home. But you can empathize with David; … no where to turn but upwards … from the horizontal to the vertical. And that’s exactly where God had allowed David to plunge; and that’s exactly where David turned; … to God.
And if we read on in David’s immediate plight or on to times later, we learn that God lifted David up and delivered him into victory after victory, … even on to the kingship for which God had anointed David. But David had to be delivered from his immediate valley of the shadow of death (you know Psalm 23, a Psalm of David), seeing that God will never forsake, nor abandon, His chosen ones [Do you remember Deut. 31: 6?]. David had to experience the strength which can come only from God, written about by another Psalmist in Psalm 46: 1, “… a very present help in time of trouble.”
I could personalize this with testimony and more from God’s word; but I think you’ve probably been in some valley of despair, as was David in today’s passage; and I pray that you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you don’t, and you’re in that low place in your life, you’re there alone; aren’t you? But if you have God in your life, you’re with the One Who wants you to look up to Him, … to cry to Him, … to rely on Him. Because only God can take you through that valley of despair and give you that peace that surpasses all understanding (I hope you have Phil. 4: 6-7 internalized).
My Prayer for Today: Down and out? Look up, dear one, to the God Who is there to deliver you. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 30: 1 – 6 … Linked to 1st Samuel 30 for your study …
My Journal for Today: Down about as far as he could go; so, where does David turn? He’s tired and depressed; and he no doubt was worried about the loss of the women and children under his leadership, including two of his own wives who’d been captured by the Amalekites, a fearsome warrior tribe of the time. What was the king-to-be to do? No where to look, but up; and that’s exactly where David turned. Read 1st Samuel, verse 6; and we read that David was strengthened by His Lord.
Perhaps you’re in a place of despair and seeming hopelessness even as you read this. Maybe it’s the lousy economy which has you down and almost out. Perhaps it’s a diagnosis of cancer. Or maybe it’s a relational problem in your home. But you can empathize with David; … no where to turn but upwards … from the horizontal to the vertical. And that’s exactly where God had allowed David to plunge; and that’s exactly where David turned; … to God.
And if we read on in David’s immediate plight or on to times later, we learn that God lifted David up and delivered him into victory after victory, … even on to the kingship for which God had anointed David. But David had to be delivered from his immediate valley of the shadow of death (you know Psalm 23, a Psalm of David), seeing that God will never forsake, nor abandon, His chosen ones [Do you remember Deut. 31: 6?]. David had to experience the strength which can come only from God, written about by another Psalmist in Psalm 46: 1, “… a very present help in time of trouble.”
I could personalize this with testimony and more from God’s word; but I think you’ve probably been in some valley of despair, as was David in today’s passage; and I pray that you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you don’t, and you’re in that low place in your life, you’re there alone; aren’t you? But if you have God in your life, you’re with the One Who wants you to look up to Him, … to cry to Him, … to rely on Him. Because only God can take you through that valley of despair and give you that peace that surpasses all understanding (I hope you have Phil. 4: 6-7 internalized).
My Prayer for Today: Down and out? Look up, dear one, to the God Who is there to deliver you. Amen
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