God in the Details

 

God does not often show Himself strong for us during a trial. Initially, this hurts our feelings and causes us to doubt His love for us. However, God's love is exactly what prevents Him from rescuing us from life's hurts and challenges.

God is teaching us that this life is inconsequential in His larger scheme of the ages. His goal in our life is to transform our body, soul and spirit from this humble, earthly state into conformity with His glorious eternal plan for us.

He also shows us that all things, even our health, finances, comfort, suffering, family and life are subject to Him (Philippians 3:20-21). As His Spirit sanctifies us, we learn to submit to His will and to surrender our entire life to His wisdom and direction.

This gives us hope in God, rather than despair from overwhelming circumstances, thoughts and feelings. He is constantly at work in our life, planting seeds for a miracle in all of our trials.

We just have to patiently wait for Him to reveal them to us. He longs for us to trust in Him alone, and to desire His will instead of our own goals and plans.

We eventually learn that our suffering in this world cannot be compared to the glory of living in God's presence both now and throughout eternity (Romans 8:18).

Hardships are merely temporary and fleeting, especially as we keep our eyes on Christ and the prize of our inheritance of the Kingdom of God (Acts 17:11; 1 Peter 4:12-13; James 1:1-13).

Prayer:

Father God, help us to meditate on the truth that You are in complete control of everything in this world. Allow this fact to penetrate deep within our soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings - so that we learn to trust You and not our human reasoning throughout every moment of our day. We do not need to understand Your thoughts, because they are so much more profound than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

You simply ask us to remain open and willing to submit to and accept Your will and ways - even in the trials. You renew our human spirit by making Your truths known to us. We are created in Your image (Colossians 3:10), we have Your mind (1 Corinthians 2:16), and by Your Spirit we learn to walk as You would walk in our shoes (1 John 2:20).

Thought for the Day:

As the reality of the fact that our life is hidden with Christ in God becomes more of a reality every day, we draw away from the world, the flesh and the devil and find our true joy only in service to our King Jesus. - Romans 12:2

Ask and Receive

God’s promises to us are positive and guaranteed (2 Corinthians 1:20). He tells us to ask and we will receive (John 15:7, 16:24). One of the favorite verses in today’s Christian ranks is that God will give us a hopeful future, that He has our best interest at heart and that He wants us to prosper (Jeremiah 29:11).

Due to this fact, many Bible teachers counsel people to stand on God’s Word. Of course, it is a good idea to read and pray God’s Word. The Spirit uses God’s Word to anoint our spirit, to encourage our soul – our mind, choices and emotions – and to strengthen our body.

However, many people will point to a verse in the Bible, hold the book up in God’s face and demand that He provide us with the humanistic fulfillment, which we interpret the verse to say. We take the verse out of the context of the rest of the verses around it, and we do not consider who the verse’s author is talking to when he wrote it.

Rather than demanding that God provide what we want, we can sit quietly in His presence and receive from Him what He chooses to give us. We praise and thank Him, even if His answer is hardship and suffering. We can give thanks to God for His love and generosity in the most dire circumstance, which life throws at us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

God’s presence in our life is a more valuable treasure than any earthly, carnal provision we expect. Even if we are homeless, dying in a hospital bed or falsely accused and in prison, we can rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4-9). All of God’s promises come to us through Christ’s atoning work; and we give God the glory for whatever He provides for us (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Prayer:

Father God, trials are not a sign of Your rejection of us, our lack of faith or our immature spirituality. In this world, Jesus had tribulation, and we are not more privileged than our Lord (John 13:16). Help us to see the seed for a miracle in every trial You allow into our life (Job 1:8; 2:3). Thank You for teaching us submission to Your will, appreciation for Your blessings, and for molding us into the image of Christ through the things that we suffer (Hebrews 5:8).

You are our provision and protection, and our heart trusts in You and Your supply; we will sing songs to You, because our heart greatly rejoices in Your loving presence in our life (Psalm 28:7). Rather than demanding, grabbing or insisting on Your blessings, we will sit quietly in Your presence and surrender to Your will for our life.

Thought for the Day:

As we change our focus from temporal to eternal aspects of life, things of this earth will fade in their importance to us. - 2 Corinthians 4:18

His Exact Replica

After Salvation, we often focus our attention outwardly. We see God on His throne in Heaven, but we see our self as struggling alone in life and in need of His divine help. Some people say we are nothing but puppets, forced to serve as our Divine Manipulator dictates. However, we are more like a glove. Christ exactly fills us and we are perfectly molded to His character and nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Our union with Christ involves our spirit, soul and body. He unites them in vision and purpose with Christ. Through this union, God expresses His heart through us in sympathy for the hardships of others, in patience in tribulation, and in devotion in Bible study, prayer and fellowship with other Saints of God. Consequently, God fulfills through us His purpose for us in the earth (Ephesians 2:10).

In this manner, the union between the Creator and the created, the divine and the human, the eternal and the temporal is complete (Colossians 2:10). The Spirit directs us, and we move as His exact replica on the earth. Jesus also walks beside us, as well as living within us. He completely surrounds us, finishing His work of sanctification in our soul. We live, move and exist in Him (Acts 17:28).

Christ redeemed us from sin by the cross, and He works out His intentions in us and through us (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 2:9-10). Jesus is our all in all (Colossians 1:17). He justifies our spirit; sanctifies, inspires and directs our soul; and will eventually glorify our body. Jesus is the expression of God’s glory and the exact image of God’s being (Hebrews 1:3). He speaks the oracles of God through our voice (1 Peter 4:11).

Also, Jesus heals a sick body through the laying on of our hands (Mark 1:41; 6:5; 5:3; 7:32, 33; 8:23, 25; 16:18; James 5:15). He sees a need and meets it through the resources He provides for us (1 John 3:17). He will even raise the dead, cleanse the leper and cast out demons in and through us (Matthew 10:8). As we walk in union with Christ, by the direction of His Spirit, we walk as shining stars, shedding His light in the dark, lost world around us (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:15).

Prayer:

Father God, Your will flows from a combination of Your divine love and wisdom. Harmony in our relationship with You increases as we live in union with Christ. This guarantees that more accord abides between our will and Yours. We soon find that our purpose is to do nothing more in life than to allow Christ to work through us. Fill us with the spiritual gifts and fruit of Your Spirit, and help us to lay down our plans and expectations, so You can use us for Your purposes each moment of our day. 

Thought for the Day:

If we only focus on Christ on the cross, we may forget the fact that the risen Lord dwells within our spirit.

Each New Day

 

We all pay a litany of consequences for our choices. Even Saints who are forgiven may still suffer the consequences of our behavior, just as the thief who had to die on the cross. However, for those who surrender to God, we are forgiven from the penalty of our sins. Jesus paid the debt for us and takes us with Him to heaven for eternity. This gives us a reason to rejoice as we read His Word, as well as to stay far away from everything, which tarnishes or stands against His name.

Those who trust in God can rejoice with each new day and gladly face the hardships that come (Psalm 118:14,24). When we hide in the refuge of our Savior, no one can do anything to us that is outside of His will. There is no reason for us to fear the trials in this world or for us to rely on anyone other than our Father God (Psalm 118:6, 8-9). God is our strength and shield. He puts His song in our heart at the moment of our salvation. God’s continual loving kindness and truth endures forever (Psalm 117:2).

Our help comes directly from the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He will not allow us to stumble or to be cast down. He even watches over us in our sleep. He is our protector and provider. He gives us shade in the intense heat of daily life and safety from the terrors of the night (Psalm 91; 121:1-6). When we find our rest in Him, we quiet our soul and do not worry. We are as safe as a child in its mother’s loving arms (Psalm 131:1-2).

As we seek Him with our whole heart, walk blamelessly before him, and keep His precepts, He blesses us in every area of our life. He provides us with His light in our darkest experiences. He keeps us from evil and preserves our soul for eternity. He watches over us each moment of the day both now and forevermore (Psalm 121: 7-8). This is why we love Him with all of our heart, and live in faithful obedience to Him to the end of our days (Psalm 119: 1-2,105,112).

Prayer:

Father God, You know everything we think, say and do. There is no place for us to hide from Your care and concern over our life (Psalm 139:8). You give great peace to everyone who loves Your ways. As we keep our focus on You, nothing will cause us to falter from our life in You (Isaiah 26:3). We love You with our whole heart and we rejoice in Your ways (Psalm 119:162-168). In the quiet hours of the night, we join the trees clapping their hands in praise to You, as they perform in perfect harmony with the wind. We give our life and love to you (Isaiah 55:12), and we live each day for the glory of Your name.

Thought for the Day:

If we look at all the worries in our life, we get overwhelmed with stress. If we walk in the Spirit each moment of the day and leave the rest to God, we will live victoriously.

 

A New Point of View

 

Human beings find it hard to let go of the anger, bitterness and the desire for revenge, which we harbor against those who hurt us. In actuality, we dream up all sorts of calamities, which we hope our oppressors will fall into, as we grin with delight. Somehow, withholding forgiveness makes our wounds easier to handle. We think we are punishing our offender by refusing to forgive them.

However, the bitterness that grows out of unforgiveness is a poisonous root that blossoms into a great many other issues (Hebrews 12:15). If we choose to entertain resentment instead of forgiving our offender, bitterness will corrupt our whole life. Paul exhorts us to get rid of all bitterness (Ephesians 4:31). God knows exactly how to hand out vengeance to our tormentors (Deuteronomy 32:35-36).

The truth is that God cannot forgive us if we do not first forgive others (Mark 11:26). If we do not ask forgiveness from those whom we offend or wound, this is equally as serious (Matthew 5:24). However, when we understand eternity, the concerns of this life lose their intensity and value. This concept makes it so much easier to forgive. Aspects of this life, which used to mean so much to us, have no more attraction for us.

There is no longer any need to harbor unforgiveness toward anyone. We can live with the blessings of forgiveness instead. As we focus on eternal matters, we rejoice without ceasing because of God’s salvation and His multitude of blessings in our life. We exchange our plan for our life with God’s plans for us. This change in our mindset provides us with fulfillment, which we would never experience without complete surrender to God’s will.

Prayer:

Father God, we count our self blessed, because of Your intervention in our life. You save us from so much hardship that people will suffer, if they do not have You in their life. Our slate of sin is wiped clean, because of Your sacrifice on the cross. You hold nothing against us, and we hold nothing back from You (Psalm 32:1-2). We are so happy to get a fresh start each new morning, to find freedom from the tyranny of sin and to walk in walk in Your ways.

Thought for the Day:

Some people die with a bitter soul, having never tasted the goodness of the Lord. – Job 21:25