God of Comfort

God is our comfort no matter what we are experiencing in life. When we persevere through a trial, we conquer the test and receive the crown of life promised by God to those who love Him (James 1:12).

I am not really motivated by rewards, but I am motivated by the thought of casting our crowns, which God gives us, at the feet of Jesus, our King and Lord (Revelation 4:10-11). After all, He deserves them.

When we lay our life down for the cause of Christ, working tirelessly in the service which He calls us to do, we receive His eternal crown of life - the carnal traded for the eternal (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 9:25).

When we go through trials, we change our focus from the suffering in this present world, knowing that our tested faith provides us with patience; and patience makes us perfect and complete, lacking in no good thing (James 1:2-4).

Through each test, God comforts us. We are faint, our bones are in agony, our soul is in anguish, we are worn out from groaning, we toss and turn and cry into our pillow all night long, our eyes grow weak with sorrow.

Yet, God hears our cries and accepts our prayers. He gives us mercy, delivers us and showers us with His unfailing love (Psalms 6:2-10). He keeps all of our tears in His bottle and will avenge every one of them (Psalm 56:8).

We simply admit our helplessness to our Helper (Psalm 10:12, 40:17). He guards our life, as we devote it to Him, call on Him and trust Him all day long (Psalm 86:1-4). We lift up our soul to Him and He comforts us.

Prayer:

Father God, You are our refuge and strength. You provide us with an ever-present help in times in life when trials seem to pursue us. They come in waves, one right after the other (Psalm 46:1). We take refuge in the shadow of Your wings and You save us and deliver us (Psalm 7:1, 57:1-3).

You are gracious to us in our loneliness and affliction, even when our troubles, infirmities and distress multiply one upon the other (Psalm 25:16-18). As our soul grows faint, we call on You and You lead us to the Rock of Christ, our firm foundation on which we can stand; our strong tower against any enemy (Psalm 61:1-4; Matthew 7:24-27).

Thought for the Day:

God gives us relief from our misery and shows us mercy as He listens to our prayers. - Psalm 4:1

Living in Total Surrender

 

We cannot save or sanctify our self, and neither can we walk in the Spirit by performing works of the flesh (Galatians 3:1-3; Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, God causes us to come to the point of helpless hopelessness in our life, so that we will totally surrender to Him.

Then, He does it all, a complete perfecting work in us and through us (Colossians 2:10). Our role is to desire more intimacy with Him and His glory, and He responds by answering our prayers in amazing ways.

We live a life singing continual praises, submitted to His Word, listening to His Spirit's direction for each moment of our day, and rejoicing in Him, even in negative circumstances. Then, He does the rest (Proverbs 3:5-6; Philippians 3:1, 4:4).

We read and meditate on scripture as we work and worship Him all day long; and His joy fills every fiber of our body, soul and spirit; bringing health in every way (Psalm 147:1).

A melancholy personality like me has to work a bit harder at overcoming the negative impulses in our soul; but gradually, the Holy Spirit replaces our negative personality traits with God's character and divine nature (2 Peter 4:1; John 15:11).

God transforms us into the likeness of Christ and brings us to the point of total surrender, until we are in such union with Him that He actually lives His life in and through us (Romans 8:29; Galatians 2:20).

Like the woman at the well, we are tired of looking for fulfillment in the things of this world; and we are longing for living water, which quenches our otherwise insatiable thirst (John 4:14, 7:38).

Prayer:

Father God, draw us by Your love and remind us to respond to it, rather than learning through discipline and suffering. Help us to come to the point where we passionately call out to You in complete surrender. We know without a doubt that You will never, ever let us go (Hebrews 13:5).

Help us to communicate to others the necessity of total surrender to You, so that they too may come to a place of rest. Do not allow them to continue to strive or to fill their life with empty pursuits and vain attempts to amass this world's goods; but to seek You with all of their heart until they find You.

Thought for the Day:

The joy of the Lord is our greatest strength. - Nehemiah 8:10