Daily Devotional - 1/20/13 (10/20/09)

Prayer Focus - Friends


Day 6
Pray for:
One friend that you feel close to
One friend that has become distant and you would like to be closer to
One friend from long ago
One new friend
One friend that has hurt you
One friend that has always been there for you


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs

Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear Your everpresent voice and grant me the strength to obey.


Psalms 50


"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." (vs. 23)



What is it that God requires?  Sacrifice, work, hardship, toughing it out, denying ourselves, piety?  We have many ideas in our heads, but God's words drown them out. 

"God comes and will not be silent...Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

Then what does He say to us?

"Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me." ( vs 14-15)




The foremost thing on God's mind is thank offerings.  He wants us to be thankful; to rejoice always.  He says it again, Rejoice.  When we rejoice, all the rest flows out naturally.  Living our lives as a Christian is not a burden when we have a grateful heart.  I know I gladly do things for those I appreciate; those to whom I am grateful for.  When I lose gratitude for God and others, then everything becomes a burdensome chore. Besides enabling us to fulfill the rest of our vows, the thankfulness of our hearts honor God.
 
We must no longer think of this as an optional tenant of Christianity.  I must be thankful. It is so easy to be ungrateful and complaining. It seems to be natural for us. But negative thinking spirals us down to depression and futility. Positive, grateful hearts enable us to see God and the ways He has laid out to help us in any and every situation. My gratitude and thanks enable God to usher in His salvation. The road to victory is paved with thanks. Let us call out to God in our times of trouble and do it with rejoicing since we are blessed to even have a life to be struggling with. God will answer.



Prayer for the Day


Dear Lord,

Thank You for giving us life. We are grateful to exist and we are grateful that You care for us. Help us to remember that our gratitude opens the doors for Your salvation. Help us to not be like the Isrealites that wandered for years in the desert because of their ingratitude and unfaithfulness. They continued to complain in spite of all the miracles You brought to them. We can be no different. We want to amaze You with our faith and our good attitudes and happy hearts. We ask for Your strength and blessing as we strive to be pleasing to You in each and every moment of our days. We love You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT



1. Am I sacrificing thank offerings to God? How often do I thank God for something?


2. Am I fulfilling my vows to God? What vows have I made to God? What do I need to change to fulfill them more completely?


3. Am I calling upon God in my times of trouble? Who do I turn to first when I am having a problem? Is it God or a friend/spouse?


4. Am I seeing victories in my life? What is my mental attitude like?


5. Do I see any correlation between when I am positive and grateful and when I see victories/ success in my life? If so, how can I do a better job at sustaining my gratitude level?