Daily Devotional - 9/16/15 (11/16/09)

Prayer Focus - Needs


Day 5
Pray for:
One thing that is needed in the world
One thing that is needed in your country
One thing that is needed in your state/region
One thing that is needed in your city
One thing that is needed in your family


Focus on how the fulfilled need will help impact people's:
spiritual lives
physical lives
emotional lives
mental lives

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




Psalms 76



"In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion...

You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before You when You are angry?...

Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. He breaks the spirit of rulers; He is feared by the kings of the earth." (vs. 1-2, 7, 11-12)


God is known by His people! Think about who you really know and who really knows you.  Isn't it our best friends and our closest family members. People we love and trust.  We can have a lot of friends but most likely we have very few that have gotten that close.  We do not share our hearts with our casual friends or our acquaintances.  Yet, God is desiring that His people know Him intimately.  He wants a very close relationship with us.  He also wants to dwells with us.  He wants to be with us day in and day out.  He is concerned with even the minute details for our lives.  The scriptures state that He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matt 10:30).  How amazing is this!  We can know God!  He knows us and He still wants to live with us and deal with us! We know we don't deserve this, but praise God, He offers it anyway.

God is love (I John 4:8).  His desire to be known by us is proof of His love.  His whole being is perfect love.  The problem is that we don't always understand what true love really is.  We usually like to dwell on the softer aspects of love such as acceptance, trust, and kindness, but there is also the aspect of love that disciplines and the aspect of love that at times has to let go and step back from a situation.  Sometimes we have to be strong if we love.  If we think of our children, we may have experienced this.  When we see or learn that they are doing things that will hurt them, we do not just allow them to do these things.  We can't sit by idly because we don't want them to be angry with us.  We can not be cowards.  We have to be strong at times and set standards.  We may be seen as very unloving by them, but this is surely not our hearts.  Our hearts are breaking when we have to discipline them because we want a relationship so badly with them but we can not have want we want if they do not change and follow some rules.  This too is love. 

Our children need to fear and respect us in a healthy way so that they can learn the lessons we need to teach them and so that we can impart the wisdom we have learned through our experiences.  After all, we have lived longer than them and this counts for something.  I believe it must be similar to this with God.  We are His children.  He deserves our fear and respect.  In fact, He alone is to be feared. We don't like this idea.  We will fear just about anything else, but to fear God we often think is just not right.  Usually, He is the last thing we fear.  It is so easy for us to start fearing men because we can see them and they can speak to us and voice their displeasure with us.  Circumstances and the uncertainty of life is also easy to fear because it is so present and often overwhelming.  But to fear God is often laughed at or condemned.  It is difficult to swim against the current and follow God because more and more this puts us at odds with our society.  We struggle with living counter to our culture because we want to look cool and fit in.  It is also hard for us to be disliked, talked about, or have enemies because we want so much to be accepted.

We have to come to grips with the fact that we will never be fully accepted by the world if we are truly following God. We may be liked, tolerated, and even respected at times, but we will never be "one of the gang" if we are truly standing up and living by God's standards.  We should not even really want to be accepted by the world if we think about what the world stands for. (James 4:4)

We just need to focus on pleasing God.  He is the one who created us and the one who will take care of us.  Some day what we hold to be true will be real for everyone else as well.  Our faith will be sight and even the kings of earth will one day bow before the Creator.  God is the true controller of everything and He is the only one that really matters in the long run. We need to remember that and then strive to fulfill our vows to Him. This should be our focus each and every day.  When we can say that it is, then we will be truly at peace no matter what comes.

Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We praise You for allowing us to know You. We want to know You better each and every day.  Help us to not waste the time we have with You and help us to walk in Your presence today. We want to fear You. Although fear is not popular, it is what is due You as You are able to give and take away all that we have and are. We praise You for Your goodness and mercy. Without both, we would not be able to stand. None of us are worthy. Help us to fulfill our vows and live lives pleasing to You. Guard our hearts and keep us from pride and arrogance. Help us to walk humbly before You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

QFT



1. Do I know God? How would I describe my relationship with Him? Are we best friends, friends, acquaintances, or strangers? How can I deepen my relationship with Him?  Am I focusing on the reality that God wants to dwell with me?

2. Do I fear God? How do I feel about that concept? Do I shy away from it? Why do I feel as I do? Why do I need to fear God? How will that improve my relationship with Him and my obedience to His word?

3. What do I fear the most?  Do I ever fear man or circumstances?  How does my life show this?  Am I happy about how I am living?  Am I standing up for what I believe in or do I feel like I am a coward? 

4. What vows have I made to God? Am I fulfilling them? Why or why not? What do I need to start doing to fulfill them?

4. Do I believe that everyone will bow before God someday? What is my views of other religions? Do I see them all the same or do I see the difference in Christianity? Do I see everyone as needing a relationship with God? Why or why not?