Facing the Future

 

When we pay attention to all that God does for us throughout our day, we find our soul overflowing with love and gratitude to Him. We rejoice in Him, His provision, His peace and His joy that He showers us with each moment of our day. He is our source of rejoicing.

 

The Trinity of God is available to us every moment of the day, because God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit abides within us. He provides everything for us exactly when we need it – in His perfect timing and will. 

 

Each day is a new surprise, as we put our trust in Him with every hurdle we come up against. Thanks to God’s Spirit, we have fathomless riches because of who He is and what He does for us each day. This is all possible only because of what Jesus, the Son, did for us on Calvary’s cross. 

 

Once we totally surrender to our Father’s love, our supply of His blessings is instant and eternal. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Our Father God intimately knows us, because He knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139). 

 

We recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice, He leads us, and we follow (John 10:4). God’s Trinity goes before us, to ward off any approaching enemy, and we feel protected and secure in His love (Psalm 27:1-3). He makes a way for us over every towering mountain pass, flooded creek, and even the darkest valley (Psalm 23). 

 

God makes the crooked places straight for us (Isaiah 45:2), He knows ahead of time all of the events of our tomorrows, and He keeps us close to Him (Proverbs 18:24). We even slumber and sleep in His eternal peace. He provides all of our needs.

 

Since God knows what lies ahead of us, we thrive in His mercy, truth, and grace through every circumstance that we face. He heals us in body and soul and spirit, reduces the pain of our trials, and uses us as a testimony of His grace and provision (Philippians 4:19).

 

Prayer:

Father God, it is a comfort to know that we are not a nameless entity who drifts around in this stress-filled life until the day that we die. We are not strangers in the throng of humanity surrounding us, but we are known by You, provided for by You, saved by Your grace, and we will spend eternity in Your service. In the center of Your love, even death is not our enemy, because Jesus overcame death and He abides within us (1 Corinthians 15:19-23).

 

Thank You for walking with us and in us, during every step of our life on this earth. You are our Helper, Hope and Expectation. We need You to care for us each moment of the day, and we thank You for all You have done for us, in us, and will do for us in our future. We have the confidence to face whatever the future holds for us, because You are working our Your purposes for our life. We look forward to worshipping You, with the angels around Your throne (Revelation 7:11), for all of eternity.

 

Thought for the Day:

We do not know what the future holds for us, but we do know who holds us in our future; He knows the number of hairs on our head, He rejoices over us with singing, and He allows us to come boldly to His throne in our every moment of need. 

-      Luke 12:7; Zephaniah 3:17; Hebrews 4:16

 

A Valuable Character Trait

 

Trust is a valued character trait often lacking in today's world. Since this is true, we have to learn to trust God in every circumstance and in every area of our lives. We can combat fear by counting God’s blessings instead (Psalm 103:1-2). Our soul returns to its rest each time we remember that the Lord is good to us. He delivers our eyes from crying, our feet from faltering and our body from dying (Psalm 116:7-8). We can trust God in all of life’s difficulties.

With Christ in us we are strong and we have courage. We are not anxious or stressed, because He is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9; Psalm 56:3). He is our Almighty One (Psalm 31:14). He created, redeemed and delivers us, and we belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1). God’s words are true and He provides His goodness to His people (2 Samuel 7:28). He never forsakes anyone who seeks Him, which shows that we can trust in Him (Psalm 9:10). Our soul rejoices both in His mercy and His salvation (Psalm 13:5).

So often, human advice counsels us to follow our heart. However, the heart is deceitfully wicked and impossible to understand (Jeremiah 17:9). In fact, whoever trusts in his/her heart is a fool (Proverbs 28:26). Equally as foolish is to trust in our bank account, our job or our mate to provide for us. The Lord gave us our job and with the economy, we may lose it; however, God will always provide for our needs (Proverbs 11:28). In Christ, brokenness and loss signals a new beginning, a new reality with transformed beauty.

As believers, we recognize Satan as a deceptive angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). We do not allow our self to get discouraged by his attempts to dishearten us. We stop emulating the traditions and activities of this world. We do not rely on our human resources. We trust in God’s faithfulness by remembering all that He did for His Biblical Saints (Daniel 6:23; Psalm 20:7). When we trust in the Lord of hosts, we are blessed (Psalm 84:12). As we submit to God, He transforms us into a new person by changing the way we think, speak and act (Romans 12:2).

When Jesus took bread and wine at the end of the last supper with His apostles, He shared them as a sign of the power we find in His death and resurrection. Ever since then, brokenness is always followed by transformation and transformation by trust. Brokenness is not an end, it does not signal destruction; it is a new beginning. At Jesus’ return, He will even transform our lowly body into a glorious, immortal one through the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:21).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we will not allow our heart to be anxious. We believe in God and we believe in You (John 14:1). You fill us with Your joy and peace, which floods our soul – our mind, will and emotions. This belief allows us to overflow with hope by the power of Your Spirit (Romans 15:13). You promise to make all things new, and we trust in You to glorify us in our body, even as You justified us in our spirit and sanctify us in our soul (Revelation 21:5).

Thought for the Day:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6