Monday
Turmoil of the World
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand (John 10:27-29 NLT).
Yes, the world has gone bonkers. I've never witnessed in my 65+ years such quick and radical destruction of a moral society as we see happening today. The anti-God, anti-good, anti-values, anti-moral society seems to have taken over. All reasonable understanding has gone out the window. The people that are wanting a politically correct/entitlement world have scales over their eyes and are denying Truth over their human desires. The Antifa/BLM, Socialist/Marxist groups are causing division in order to conquer and destroy our nation. We are living in turbulent times.
As things deteriorate around us, we must focus on Jesus and God's teachings in His Holy Word. Those of us that believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, can take comfort in the fact that no matter what is going on around us, we have a Savior. Our hope is not in the stuff in this world but in our Hope in Christ Jesus. No one can “ever” snatch us away from God's amazing hand.
Thanks be to You, Lord God. Amen.
Tuesday
Praising Our Father in Heaven
That is why I can never stop praising you;
I declare your glory all day long (Psalm 71:8 NLT).
All the praise to our God, who continues to bless us far more than we deserve. Thanks be to God. Praise Him all the day long!
Dear Father, lead us and direct us today so that we might understand how you have wonderfully blessed us. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Wednesday
Be Joyful!
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:15-17 NLT).
Wipe that frown from your face! brothers and sisters in Christ, we are co-heirs to the throne of God! We are God's dearly beloved children. Why are you living like you have no hope or future? Get off you backsides and put a smile on your face and live like a child of the Most High! Jesus Christ died for you so that you might have a future, not only after this life, but today, right now! We are victors in Christ. Claim His victory over the devil and his henchmen. Claim today, as it is the day that the Lord has given us. Let us rejoice. Get off your duffs and do what Christ commanded us to do: share His light in a lost and dying world, making disciples of others, and grow God's kingdom.
We also must know that by sharing in all Christ did for us, we must share in His suffering. Jesus said that the world hated Him first, and they will hate us also. Christianity will never be popular in this politically correct world. So we must be ready for the slings and arrows of our enemies and even our friends and family.
Father God, regardless of any persecution that we might experience, nothing compares to the kingdom that you have given us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lead us and direct us today so that we might draw closer to You, Father. Thank you, Lord, for saving us from ourselves and our sinful nature. Amen.
Thursday
Cry Out for Jesus
As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:29-31 NLT).
I look at the two blind men in today's Scripture and think how we as a nation and also as individuals, need to be calling out for Jesus to have mercy on us. We have abandoned God. As a nation, we can't seem to get God out of all our schools, government, public facilities, etc., fast enough. As an individual, I'm seeing the god of political correctness rule the lives of wonderful people. They are being deceived by the lies and can't see the “forest for the trees.” I pray daily for those who are blinded by the deception of this evil and vile world.
So, how do we escape the brokenness of this evil transformation of our nation and ourselves? We escape by filtering everything through God's Holy Word. The world might say this is right, give it a “truth-check” with God's word. If the world says this is wrong, check it by God's word. We must use the only true Guidebook for life that we have.
The other way is to do like the two blind men do in today's Scripture and scream out for Jesus to have mercy. We must get on our knees and cry out for God to direct our nation, our leaders, and ourselves to a life worth living. Scream at the top of your lungs or whisper in solitude, but pray for God to lead us and direct us in all that we do. Prayer and supplication are key means of making changes so that we might follow God's way and His path.
Also, know this, we might have left God, but God has not left us. He is waiting on us to return to Him so that He might bless us as a nation and as individuals. Please pray. Prayer is an open line of communication to the God of the Universe.
Thank You, Lord God. You are the great I am, the One who is, was, and will always be. Amen.
Friday
Walking in Brokenness
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth (1 John 1:8 NLT).
We are all walking around in our sin. If you think that you are not, you might better take a better look at your heart. We all sin. The difference in a Christian and someone that has not found the saving grace of Jesus, is that those who are "in-Christ" feel the remorse of their sin and ask for forgiveness. They seek to do their best to not continue to live in that sin. Those that are living outside of Christ's Light just try to convince themselves, and others, that what they are doing is really not a sin at all.
Father, we are all in need of a Savior to cover our sinful lives. Father God, thank You for meeting our needs through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. I praise Your holy name. Amen.
Saturday
God is at Work
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
God may be busy, but He is never too busy to hear and answer our prayers. He never ever gives up on us. God is always faithful. He is doing a work in your life right now. All you must do is turn to Him and give Him a chance to complete His work.
How do I know? He did a work in me.
Lord God, thank You for loving us so much that you will come to us as we are but never leave us as we are. Lord, when you come into our lives, you make incredible changes. You help us to give up our sinful desires and follow you. Lead us and direct us to your righteous path, Lord. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Sunday
Following Jesus
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NLT).
I read a friend's post about following Jesus and it brought to mind a very short, one-sentence devotion.
If Jesus is your co-pilot, move over.
We might think we can lead Him in the direction that we want to go, but in reality, we should never be the leader. Jesus should be our leader, and we must follow Him.
I know that I've gotten out in front of Jesus many times and when I have, it's not worked out very well. As my friend stated in his post: Stop pulling Jesus around in the wagon, get in that wagon, and let Jesus pull you.
Father God, thank You for leading us. Let us remember every day that you are the One that we must follow. We pray in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
