Lost?

Psalm 112—Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor. The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

In all things, we must constantly refocus on the Lord.  He will never lead us astray, and He will unfailingly reveal the right path in any given circumstance.  We can never control what someone else might do.  We can never control the evil that might happen in this world.  But we can control where we look – when we look to the Lord, we point our feet in the right direction even if we don’t understand what the right direction is.  We might be able to only see our feet, nothing ahead and nothing behind.  We might feel lost and without a compass.  But the Lord is steadfast.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light—His compass never fails.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His unwavering devotion and direction in your life.  Pray that He would continue to lead and guide you in righteousness.  Ask for a spirit willing to be led to the right path, even when the right path is an unexpected one.  In all things, please the Lord.

Words Fail

Matthew 10:19-20—When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Time and again, Jesus warned His disciples that they would not always be well-received.  He prepared them to be ridiculed, excluded, and persecuted.  Though Christianity is certainly more mainstream now than it has been at other times, historically-speaking, there is still ample persecution directed toward those who love Christ.  God’s love for us is unique, individualized, and complex.  He is the same God, unwavering and steadfast, but our ability to perceive Him, and the way He reveals Himself, to us is wholly personal.  That is one reason God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, etc., in the Old Testament.  Each person had an individual and personal relationship with God – they knew Him in a different way.  It’s kind of like how we know our parents differently than their friends know them.  They are the same person, but our experiences color the way we know them.  This personalized knowledge, though, can lead to conflict among Christians.  It can cause those outside Christianity to question the truth of Christianity.  It might cause us to be labeled hypocrites or something even worse.  When we face conflict, God tells us we have nothing to fear.  He assures us that He will give us the right words.  We are not to worry or be concerned for the Lord never needs defending, and He is quick to protect His Sheep.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for protecting you and speaking through you.  Rejoice in His constant love.  Pray that your spirit would be open to God’s movement.  Allow yourself to be a vessel for the Lord and ask Him to speak through you with wisdom, knowledge, and clarity so that His Will might be fulfilled in your life.

Infinite Love

Romans 8:38-39—For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How amazing that the Lord, Our God loves us so much that nothing can separate us from Him.  He chases after us.  He is steadfast.  There is no shame we can bring Him that would make Him stop loving us.  When we feel distant or far away, He is always in the same place.  It is true that problems, difficulties, challenges, and adversity will try to separate us.  They will get into our heads and push our attention away from God.  But the constant truth is God never changes, He never leaves, and He always loves us.  When we feel distant, if we call out to Him, He will make His presence known.  There may be times we cannot perceive Him only because our finite minds are limited.  His presence, though, is infinite.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His enduring love.  Rejoice in His care for you.  Offer your life to Him and ask Him to guide you with His Holy Spirit that you might always feel His presence encompass you.

Separation Anxiety

Romans 8:35, 37—Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

In the midst of our daily lives, it can sometimes be difficult to feel God’s presence all around us.  Emotions like fear, worry, anxiety, relief, elation, and even happiness can distract us from relying on God and cause us to feel utterly alone or solely responsible for what is happening in our lives.  But God never changes.  He never leaves.  He never fails.  We are the mercurial ones who forget to look up.  We are the ones who put up walls and wear blinders to His presence.  What great comfort we can take in knowing that when life starts to make us feel separated, that God will never leave.  That is precisely when He scoops us up and cares for us exactly how we need.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for his unwavering ways.  Thank Him for caring for you and carrying you through your trials.  Offer your worries, fears, joys, and cares to Him, and recommit your focus on Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  

Majesty

Psalm 8:1—O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

The beauty and wonder of God’s Creation is all around us.  When the sun shines, when clouds gather, when rain and snow crash down, God’s glory reigns.  The perfection of His Creation cannot escape notice, and in His Grand Design He created a special place for us.  He has entrusted us to care for His Creation, to honor it, and to honor each other.  If He has shown such care in crafting the stars, the heavens, the trees, the animals, and everything else, then what great care He must take of you.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for the beauty of His Creation.  Praise Him for his devotion to you.  Thank Him for caring for you and lifting you up when you cannot find the path on your own.  Worship Him through song today by listening to Phillips, Craig & Dean’s I Am a Friend of God.

It Is Well

James 1:2-4—My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

Though we might not always understand, we can always rest assured that we are loved and adored by our Creator. God places upon us not only what we can handle, but what we need to experience to develop into the persons He intends for us to be.  Without trials our faith has no reason to grow, and it would be easy to become complacent and stagnate in our devotion of God. Trials exist to affirm our reliance on God, that we might declare in all circumstances, "it is well," no matter our circumstance.

Today as you pray and meditate, worship God through the words of the hymn it “It is Well with My Soul”: When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul/Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.

Ever Present

Psalm 139--O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you. O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil! Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?  I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

God has created each and every one of us for a unique, noble, and enormous God purpose.  We have been equipped even since He formed us in the womb to face every obstacle in life, to conquer every challenge presented to us, through our faith and belief in Him.  Our Lord is steadfast and unchanging—He continually reveals Himself to us in increasingly intimate ways.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He wants us to know Him to the same depths.  He is always with us, experiencing as we experience—He has made our pain His pain.  We can never be alone because His Presence endures forever.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for His Steadfast Presence.  Rejoice in His perfect love for you, His Creation.  Pray that He would guide you in fulfilling His good and perfect will in your life.  Praise Him for forming you and calling you to a purpose in this life, and pray for wisdom, knowledge, and strength to trust Him to empower you to overcome all obstacles and challenges as you fulfill His mission.