Daily Devotional - 9/6/15 (11/6/09)

Prayer Focus - Gratitude

Day 2
Pray for:
One thing you are grateful for about the country that you live in
One thing you are grateful for about the state/region that you live in



Thank God for the effect that what you are grateful for has on:
your spiritual life
your physical life
your emotional life
your mental life



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


Psalms 66


"Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard; He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For You, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." ( vs. 8-12 )


We are reminded here that sometimes God allows us to go through hard times in order to train and refine us. He lets testing go on to see what is in our hearts because that is what is most important.  The heart is the wellspring of life and often it is not as pure as it should be.  We desire to do good, but evil seems to be right with us.  Testing is like the furnace that purifies metal.  All the impurities are burned off.  Sometimes our testing is very intense as well and we can question God.  This testing does not mean that God is upset with us, however, or that He is being mean to us. He loves us so much, as evidenced by the cross of Christ.  He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth but He also knows what it is going to take to get us to heaven.

I think about all the sports I have played and this concept makes sense to me.  I went through so much to excel.  I put up with early morning workouts, "twice a days",  and "hell weeks".  I put up with persecution during the times I played on boys teams, often to the point of wanting to give up.  But I loved the sport and so I kept going.  I am glad I persevered because I became a better person, and a better player.  The same was true with school and all the time I put into getting good grades and finishing college.  It was difficult and I was tempted to quit, but once you start quitting, it becomes easier and easier and soon finishing anything seems like an impossibility.

Our society does understand commitment and enduring hardships in athletics, and maybe in a career, but in life, it seems odd to us.  We have moved so far from this concept of enduring hardship that anytime something is hard or hurts, we think it must be bad or wrong.  Also, many of the problems we see arising in our society stem from this lack of the ability to endure. We don't want to have to struggle for anything. Instant gratification is king. For example, no one wants to wait until they have the money in order to spend it. I know that was me until I racked up a credit card debt that was insurmountable. No one wants to wait to get married in order to be involved physically. Very few people want to put in long hours of study and practice on order to learn a subject, skill, or trade.  We would rather watch someone succeed, then get out there and do it ourselves.

But God wants to change us from the inside out. He doesn't want us to be spectators, He wants us to be participants in life.  He knows that nothing good comes without sacrifice and struggle. He allows this to happen in our lives because He wants us in heaven. If we can start living with eternity in our minds, we will be able to view our troubles in a different way.  They will become light and momentary. Our entire lives here on earth will become only a dot on the timeline of eternity.  None of this will matter so much anymore. The only thing that will matter then is being right with God and we will endure whatever comes to ensure that. 

God knows, and He will not leave us hanging.  He will bring us out to a place of abundance someday.  The trials do not last forever.  The times of rejoicing come.  It is like the beauty after the rainstorms, or the rainbows that come when the sun shines through.   When that happens, if we have persevered, we will be ready for it.



Scriptures for thought:


II Corinthians 4: 16 - 18

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."


Hebrews 12: 7 - 13

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 
 
     Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.  'Make level paths for your feet', so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."


Prayer for the Day


Dear Lord,

We will shout for joy today because we are alive. We will praise Your name because You are powerful. We will be grateful for all of the challenges and trials that come along because we know that they are refining us and making us into the men and women that will make a difference in the world. We praise You for not letting us go our own ways. We praise You for all of Your guidance and all the second chances that You have given us. We will not cherish sin in our hearts. You are good.


In Jesus' Name,
Amen




QFT




1. Do I praise God even in the difficult times? Why or why not?  How can I praise Him more?

2. What is going well in my life? What am I being tested in?  How do I feel about persevering through difficult times?

3. What specific difficulties am I facing right now?  What prisons am I in? What burdens are on my back? Who is riding over my head? How am I dealing with all of these things?

4. Has God brought me out to my place of abundance yet? What is this like for me?  What can I imagine it will be like?

5. Am I cherishing any sin in my heart and therefore hindering God's ability to do work?  How can I deal with these things?