God Acts On Our Behalf (and other devotionals)

God Acts On Our Behalf 

Philippians 4:6-7

We have become so accustomed to this hurried world that we've begun to demand speed in our spiritual life too. However, God "acts on behalf of those who wait for him" (Isa. 64:4 niv). Wise believers endure until the fruits of His labor appear.

In this devotion, we'll look at three reasons believers are called upon to wait. First, God may be preparing us to receive His blessings. Perhaps we need new skills or greater maturity. Sometimes people require fresh spiritual insight before their hands are ready to hold what their hearts desire. For example, David waited years to sit on his appointed throne. But when he did, he was a wise, strong, and battle-tested king.

Second, the Father is often teaching His children to have confidence in Him. How would believers ever learn faith if God immediately fulfilled their every request? In my own life, the Lord has often said two words: "Trust Me." And He has never been late to meet my needs. No matter how we justify rushing ahead of God, doing so amounts to saying, "I don't trust You."

Finally, the Lord will at times withhold blessing to protect us from harm we can't see. We may never find out what caused the delay. But be assured that God examines the object of our desire closely before placing it in our hands.

Waiting is rarely easy, particularly in this instant-everything world. But rushing ahead of the Lord short-circuits His plan. Believers who do are left unsatisfied, and they often must live with terrible consequences. Be patient while the Lord works out details. His best is on the way.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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What Do You Make Time For?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.”Acts 22:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What is more important in your life today? Seeing your daytime soap opera or asking an unsaved neighbor over for a chance to love them to Jesus? Joining your buddies for a round of golf, or visiting your unsaved father? Going shopping with your friends, or taking the time to read the Bible to a lost person in a nursing home? Someone wisely observed, “We managed to make time during the day for what’s really important to us.”

Friend, the time is running out. We will not be witnessing in heaven. This is our earthly duty and privilege now. None of us knows how many hours we have left. We must seize the golden opportunities that God gives us daily to witness.

ACTION POINT:

A line from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is our challenge: “Oh, be swift, my soul to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.”

~Adrian Rogers~

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Winning the Battle

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Did you know that there is an ongoing battle for your mind? Many of us realize that there is a battle taking place in our minds, but the real battle is for control of our minds. This may sound a little like science fiction and weird but that is just what our enemy wants us to think. We are in a spiritual battle every day for control of our thoughts. For some of us, the intensity of conflicting thoughts can torment us for hours. For others of us, we have learned such mind control that we do whatever it takes to press down those thoughts. Regardless of how we handle them, they are still there.

The only effective weapons that we can use are the ones given to us by God. The weapons of the flesh, such as mental imagery or positive thinking will not bring us the victory that God has for us. Many people use such tools and claim dramatic results, but the deceptions are dangerous. Why? Because the focus and the power are placed completely on us, not on the Lord. The more power we think we have in ourselves, the more power Satan has over us. Scary thought? Let’s go for the real power and learn to bring our thoughts before Christ.

Are you in a battle today over things in your mind? There are two things you must incorporate into your daily routine. First, open your Bible and read at least one verse in the morning. Use a devotional or a Psalm or Proverb, whatever works for you. Second, take what you have read and ask the Lord to put His words into your mind throughout the day. If you will do this every day, in time you will begin to remember God’s words and will think about them because His Spirit will bring them to your thoughts. For those things that you are struggling with in your mind, start talking to the Lord about them. Pray that His words will bring comfort and hope instead of torment and guilt. Let the Lord fight for you by letting Him have the control over your mind instead of trying to handle it yourself.

~Daily Disciples Devotionals

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So Joshua took the whole land, and Joshua gave it - Joshua 11:23

This is almost an exact parallel of the words addressed by Peter to the crowds on the day of Pentecost: "Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this." In His representative capacity, as the Head of His Church, and the Forerunner of the great host of the redeemed, it was necessary that Jesus should first receive from God the Father all that spiritual inheritance which He was to communicate to those who should afterward believe in His name: and having received, He is prepared to give. "Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you."

The whole land of spiritual blessing is now in the hand of Jesus. The prince of this world is cast out. The power of the Anakim is broken. The seven nations of Canaan and all the power of the enemy is under His feet. His are the rivers of the fullness of the Holy Ghost, and His the mountains of fellowship; His the slopes where the vines of Eshcol ripen and the corn of Canaan goldens; His the green pastures and the still waters of communion, as well as the rocky defile of death. Whatever, then, you desire, you must seek at His hand, in whom it is vested for thee, and me, and every believer: and He will give it.

The land had rest from war. Cease, then, from strife. You will not win by sore wrestling. The lame take the prey. Learn to take; let Him cause you to inherit; let Him give according to the division allotted you in the providence and determination of God. "It shall be given to those for whom it is prepared." "They that receive the abundance of grace shall reign."

~F. B. Meyer~

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Your Spiritual Impact

And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

—Jonah 1:7

One man or woman outside the will of God can be a menace to themselves and to everyone else. A case in point: Jonah. The Lord had told Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, and Jonah said no. Then he boarded a boat going in the opposite direction. A storm came, and the boat was shaking and tossing back and forth in the sea. Everyone was affected because of Jonah, and they figured out that he was the problem. He told the men, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me" (Jonah 1:12). So off Jonah went, and the storm stopped.

One man, in his disobedience, affected all those other people. Think of the husband who is not being the man God has called him to be. He is not being the spiritual leader of the family. In so many Christian homes, the wife is the spiritual leader, and the husband kind of goes along for the ride. How wonderful it is when a husband recognizes that he is to lead spiritually.

I read about a study in which researchers found that if both parents attend church regularly, 33 percent of their children will become regular churchgoers, while 41 percent will be irregular churchgoers. And interestingly, even if a father attends church regularly and a mother does not, 38 percent of their children will become regular churchgoers.

Think of the impact parents have on their children. They are passing that legacy on. When parents say, "We are going to church" or "We are going to go to a midweek study," what a great example it is for their kids.

Think of the spiritual impact you are having on others.

~Greg Laurie~