Devotions - Prayer
God’s plan IS perfect and best for His glory!
Genesis 22:21 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
Take now thy son . — Genesis 22:2
*God’s command is – Take now, not presently.
* I need to fully and faithfully move forward and follow the Lord right through the afflictions to come, knowing God’s plan IS Perfect and Best for His glory.
Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
*It is extraordinary how we debate! We know a thing is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it at once.
*If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later, it must be done now.
And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.
“And Abraham rose up early in the morning and went unto the place of which God had told him” (v. 3). The wonderful simplicity of Abraham!
* When God spoke, he did not confer with flesh and blood.
*Beware when you want to “confer with flesh and blood”,(Gal. 1:16) i.e., your own sympathies, your own insight, anything that is not based on your personal relationship to God.
These are the things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.
Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be.
*Always guard against Self-Chosen Service for God; self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service.
**If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace;
** if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him.
*** If the providential order of God for you is a hard time of difficulty, go through with it, but never choose the scene of your martyrdom, as to say “I will only go to there, But no farther”.
God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed or protested, But he went steadily went through with obedience and faith.
If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to Blame God or pass Judgment on God.
You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better.
*1 Peter 1:6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.
*Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. (1 Peter 4:12-13).
*** God is working in each of us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and man’s purpose become one!
Make sure this year, especially, this day, give the right response.
Some of us will never receive the blessing God has in store for us until we are WILLING to give THE RIGHT RESPONSE!
Some of us wonder why do I keep going through the same thing over and over again!? Perhaps it may be the response we always give to the Lord???
Now, most often the request is very very difficult!!! now we may not like it, but that response is YES LORD! Practice it!!! YES LORD!!!
**God sometimes doesn’t open the other door until we walk through the first door.
*Unless we are willing to respond to God properly….we may never witness the change God has for our life!!!
God needs you and me in 2012 to be willing to properly respond to Him. The proper response is YES LORD!
He wants us to take the things that mean the most to us, our lives, our time, our treasure and offer it to HIM!!! For some of us, our money or hobbies or work is our Isaac!
* God wants to know if we are willing to sacrifice it for him!?
*When we are willing to sacrifice ALL that is precious to us, God will be at His best!
*To let go of our most prized possession; God clearly makes that easier for us when we bring it to him rather than letting it go on own before we worship him.
*Sometimes I struggle to approach God due to my Sin and idolatry, and I feel shameful trying to worship Him with all these guilty conscience.
Once again, God will reveal that I need to come to Him as who I am and allow God to direct the actions I must take. **That’s worship. Faith does not come from my beliefs or actions but true faith, which is the source from God’s grace, works within us when we “Completely Empty Ourselves” to receive God’s authority.
I pray that our faith will be determined by God’s faithfulness alone.
Romans 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
*God sets it up so that His Son is the center of the process of knowing and doing what is right, making Himself the centerpiece of righteousness, Not us. **Wondering what is the right thing to do in your situation?
** Go to the creator for the Right thing to do! Read His Word the answer is there. (Try Read All of Proverbs with your question in mind and Listen).
***What we don’t realize, just as we are making our way up one side of the mountain, there’s a lamb climbing on the other side of the mountain!
We won’t run short if we would simply give God the right answer!!
Walk in faith! God WILL take good care of YOU!
1 Peter 4:19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
Lord, help me to first of all trust you with the faith of Abraham then help me to be a husband, dad and grandpa who can be trusted as much as Abraham was by Isaac! What trust he had Lord! Thank You Jesus for your word of Truth. Help me in my trials to have faith and obedience to You, knowing there’s a lamb climbing on the other side of the mountain for me as I surrender to your will- for your Glory and my Joy. Continue to peel away the addictions of sin from me. Thank You God, that You are working in each of us to reach Your highest goals until Your purpose and man’s purpose become one! “…To Know YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth”. Jn 17:3. In Jesus Name, Amen
* Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self.
Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
When life tumbles in, leaving us mystified, are we allowing God to plant Hope, Love, Freedom and Faith in our minds and hearts? Do we humbly recognize his inscrutable wisdom?
If we are faithful to do our part, God will always be faithful to do His!
* “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”James 4:8
But those who suffer He delivers in their suffering; He speaks to them in their affliction. – Job 36:15
*God’s ways are not our ways.
* His preparation of His warriors seems cruel and hurtful at times.
*God’s ways are much higher than ours. **Trust the God of the universe that He CAN orchestrate the events of your life when they seem the darkest.
What shall I say? Father, save me, from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. — John 12:27-29
My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is Not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may Preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow.
*** Our Lord received Himself in the fire of sorrow, He was saved not from the hour, but OUT of the hour.
*Lord I ask that you help us learn to pray to grow nearer to you. To hear your voice and follow your will. Lord I ask too that you show us your good and perfect plans. Father thank you for your love and your unending promises and grace.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires.
* If we try and evade sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. *Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be.
**Sin and sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
*Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better.
* Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self.
* If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, he has no time for you. *If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes–I, and not another (Job 19:25-27a).
This is one of the great words of faith in the Old Testament,of the resurrection of the body found in the Word of God.
Slowly, through the anguish and gloom of this man’s heart, born out of the passion and the pathos that he feels, comes the dawning realization that God is working out a great and mighty Purpose, and that one of these days God Himself (Job has never failed to see God’s great majesty and power) shall be visibly present before people.
*God is working out a purpose!!!
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Ps 13:1-2).
When David wrote his psalms he was honest about what he was feeling. However, David never stayed in the place of despair. He often ended his psalms like this one.
*** “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Ps 13:5-6).
David chooses to focus on what God HAS DONE for him, not what He has not done.
*David’s situation did not change from verse 1 to verse 5, but his Perspective and Attitude changed. He was wrestling with God’s timing, plan, attention…but ultimately David trusts in God’s love and remembers God’s favor and faithfulness to him.
*If you are waiting for a breakthrough with God, be honest with Him about your hopes, concerns and dreams.Pray!
* However, also affirm your Faith and Trust in Him to accomplish HIS Purposes through your life.
In times of despair, it is harder to hold on than to give up. BUt if we give up on the LORD, we give in to a life of DESPAIR.
God forgive me for NOT consistently praising Your name. You are great and worthy to be praised for all that You have done and will do.
Thank You, Lord, that You have sent Jesus to be my Redeemer, and I can trust that You are working out Your purposes even through my current sufferings. Help me to accept what You have in store for me and move forward as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God.
Father, thank You for the encouragement I receive from Your Perfect Word in the Bible through the Holy Spirit. Help me to take heart in what trials and sufferings I may be going through and know that You will bring me through.
I thank you God for always being so great to me. Even in my times of heartache and suffering you were there to lean on. I will Never forget how kind You have been to me and how great You are today. To God be the Glory. Forever and Ever. Amen
1 Peter 2: 20…But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Read MoreBitterness causes even the most intelligent and rational person to lose control and drown
in negativity. Until we uproot our bitterness, we will never overcome any of our other
flaws.
Do not make everything a battle. Do not let the root of bitterness enter your heart, even in
the face of adversity. We must be strong in the Faith and the Spirit of the Lord.
The Root of Bitterness
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause
trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15
*The Lord has gone before you and established the path to liberty.
*The Lord IS the way, the truth and the life. Hear the sound of His voice as He calls you
to come out of darkness into light and out of bondage into freedom!!!!
Your righteousness is of Him if you will accept it and live in the reality of redemption.
There are no valid excuses for staying in darkness or bondage, for the Lord IS the way-
maker. The Lord has made a way for you. Come forth into the glorious light.
The victory that overcomes the works is our faith. In order to access the grace of God
you must recklessly believe the truth in spite of circumstance.
*Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the
law of sin and death.
The enemy of our souls has a very specific strategy to destroy relationships.
Whether these relationships are in business, marriage, or friendships, the strategy is the
same. A conflict arises, judgments are made, and feelings are hurt.
What happens next is the defining point of whether the enemy gains a foothold, or the
grace of God covers the wrong.
When a root of bitterness is allowed to be planted and grown, it not only affects that
person, but it also affects all others who are involved. It is like a cancer.
Breaking satan’s foothold requires at least one person to press into God’s grace.
It cannot happen when either party “feels” like it, for none of us will ever feel like
forgiving.
None of us feel like talking when we have been hurt.
Our natural response is to withdraw or lash out at the offending party.
It is only obedience that allows God’s grace to cover the wrongs incurred. This grace
prevents the parties from becoming victims who will seek compensation for their pain.
The next time you are hurt by someone, realize the gravity of the crossroads where you
find yourself.
Choose grace instead of bitterness. Then you will be free to move past the hurt, and a
root of bitterness will not be given opportunity to grow.
Before worshiping God, the priests of ancient Israel practiced an “Inner Court Ritual” in
order to purify themselves. We as believers can also purify our hearts by:
(1) Recognizing sin
(2) Repenting of sin
(3) Relinquishing sin to God
(4) Replacing sin with truth from God’s Word.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own
possession…”1 Peter 2:9
Once we have confessed and repented of our sins, we must relinquish them to God. He
will not violate our free will by taking them from us, so we must choose to hand them
over.
*”As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from
us.”Psalm 103:12
Controlling Anger
1. Recognize the root of your anger (Heb. 12:15)
2. Confess it to God (Prov. 16:7)
3. Make an effort to make things right with the offended (Matt. 5:23-24)
4. Choose to forgive others (Mark 11:25-26)
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty (Proverbs 16:32)
*Forgiveness doesn’t make THEM right, but it makes YOU free!
*Harboring unforgiveness blocks out the goodness of God in our lives. We poisoned
ourselves and finally choked on that poison.
God wants us to be compassionate to others. Even our enemies.
Compassion- A feeling of deep pity for someone who is going through a tough situation,
and having a strong desire to disperse the suffering.
***Compassion is Love in Action.
Compassion is to look past another’s sins.
God want’s us to be people of compassion. We are all sinful, and if Jesus hadn’t have had
compassion we wouldn’t be saved.
Jesus’ ultimate compassion has saved me. We all need Jesus.
We need to bring our friends to Jesus. There are different ways to go about it. But we
need to get them to The Cure (Jesus)!!
Luke 15:20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced
him, and kissed him”.
Our compassion will push us past our excuses. We need to have compassion for people.
If you will cooperate with the work the Lord is doing in you and in His Body, the Lord
will bring you into a wide place, and you will be released from restrictions that have kept
you from moving forward freely with the flow of His Spirit. Some of these restrictions
have been the result of your interaction with other people, and some restrictions have
been of your own making and choices. Now is the time when you can establish yourself
in greater freedom than you have ever known.
* John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
“Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to
suit me; He fits me to suit His word”.
5 reasons bitterness is called a root:
1) it is hidden. unseen.
2) it prefers darkness to SONlight.
3) it loves dirt.
4) it gets deeper and stronger the longer its allowed to live.
5) it produces its fruit and poisons many others as it continues to spread.
How do I forgive those who hurt me?
1) Pray for those who hurt you. Matthew 5:44.
2) Forgive as you have been forgiven. Colossians 3:13
Father, reveal to me where I may be harboring anything against anyone. Convict my
heart and give me the strength to forgive. All things are possible through you.
Heavenly Father I come to your Throne of blessings and provision and ask that you
strengthen my convictions and confidence in you. Amen
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