Daily Devotional - 8/27/15 (10/27/09)

Prayer Focus - Enemies


Day 6
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently
One person from your family (immediate or extended) that has given you trouble
One person from work or a social circle that has given you trouble
One person that you feel is a danger to your well being even though you have never met
One person who is unaware that they are hurting you

Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not


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


Psalms 57


"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in You my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me." ( vs. 1 - 2)


God fulfills His purposes for us. It is not our will that succeeds. We can make all the plans in the world but in the end, it is what God wants that triumphs. This can be a relief if we are hiding in the shadow of His wings, or a frustration if we are fighting His will for us. Hosea echoes this sentiment, "Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them." (Hosea 14:9)  If we are not willing to accept and live the life God has planned out for us, we will always have trouble and difficulties.


"For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." (vs. 10)


If we consider the love God has for us, this walking in His will would not be so hard. When we know someone loves us, we are willing to do just about anything for them. God loves us more than anything that we can imagine.   God's love is all around us.   It fills the heavens and reaches to the sky.  We cannot, with our mortal eyes, detect where the sky starts and stops and so it is with God's love. We cannot tell, as humans, where His love starts and stops. It just is; like the air. Without the air, we would die. Without God's love, we would all die as well. Sometimes we hear statements such as "How could there be so much bad in the world if God exists". If God didn't exist, that is all there would be. There would be no good anymore.

 God is love. God is goodness and kindness expressed. God is beauty. God is light. Without God, there would be none of that. It would be all evil and darkness all of the time. God gave us freewill, and Satan does roam.  We must remember that - there are two sides in this battle.  I am grateful that there is someone good to cling to and that there is morning after night and sunshine after rain. I am glad there is God.



Prayer for the Day


Dear Lord,


I am glad that You have a purpose for me. I had so many dreams as I was growing up, but now - I have You. As my life is half over, I see how fleeting our time is. We want to number our days right and focus on walking in Your ways and Your will. We can get so preoccupied in our successes and failures, but we are so minuscule in the scope of eternity. We run to the refuge of Your wings. We long for Your love and faithfulness. We get so exhausted. You have the strength. You are to be exalted. We thank You for giving us life and we praise Your glory and perfection. We know the world would be a dark dark place without You. Help us to reflect Your glory and shed more joy and hope into the world. Help us to make it a better place for our existence as well. We love You.


In Jesus' Name,
Amen


QFT


1. What purposes does God have for me? Am I walking in them or stumbling in them?  Why?

2. Do I believe God's ways are right? Which of God's ways are the most difficult for me to believe are right? Why?

3. How do I feel about good and evil?  Why?  Can this view be supported biblically?

4. What does God's love mean to me? Is it easy or difficult for me to comprehend? How can I have a deeper understanding of it?

5. How has God been faithful to me? Have I been faithful to God? How can I be more faithful?