Post by solitarysoul on Jan 1, 2007 16:41:47 GMT -5
Happy New Years to you all! I hope you have a great one.
It is my wish that for this new year you will take these devotionals to heart and that they will be a blessing to you. What I have learned over the past few years has changed my life forever, so I hope to bless others with that same wisdom. At the end of each devotional will be a daily task. I encourage you to take these words to heart and do these tasks each day, while reflecting over these readings throughout the day. If you honestly do this, I promise you it will be transforming.
Today's Scripture
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Today's Word
Some people say, "If there was really a loving God, He would not allow such pain and suffering in the world." But this is the opposite of the truth, and is actually a selfish thing to say. When you learn to look at the world through God's perspective, you'll begin to realize that there truly is a purpose for everything. There is a reason we go through troubles and hard times. There is a reason you lost that loved one, have trouble in relationships, suffer from depression, or struggle with that illness.
The purpose of these troubles is to be refined. We live in a fallen world that is slave to sin. No one can escape pain and suffering in this life, it is something we all have to learn to live with. But it does not have to be something we should just learn to accept, in fact, we shouldn't simply learn to accept it, we should learn to seek the good in each of our troubles. The purpose of pain and suffering in this life is to refine us and prepare us for eternity. Many times throughout the Bible, even some of the most spiritual men went through some of the most difficult trials. But these men did not sit around in self-pity, they looked to God in faith that they would be delivered.
God will very often allow Satan to attack us with pain and suffering, for the purpose of us learning to become more like His Son, Jesus. He uses trials in our life to develop our character and personality. When we make a mistake or lose a loved one, there is often nothing we can do about it. We can't change the past, the past is past, mistakes can be forgiven and relationships restored, but what's done is done, so these circumstances force us to look to God for our support, instead of the world or ourselves. It is then that God has us realize that we usually only tend to look to Him in times of trouble. Is it any wonder then that He allows us to go through such pain? He wants us to look to Him as our total guide and support, all the time, not just when things go wrong.
We are like precious gems being prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven. At birth, we were harvested from the mine, and through this life we are chiseled from a rough dark rock into a beautiful gem or diamond. If we are stubborn and do not look to God as our guide, the chiseling becomes harder, and we continue to suffer more and more until finally, if the gem proves to be too stubborn to listen to and love God, it is thrown away into the fire. But the gems that put their hope and trust in God become another magnificent sparkle in His Kingdom, to be loved and cherished forever.
The more difficult a situation, the greater opportunity for us to grow spiritually. We must learn to look to God as our Father, realizing that only He can make good out of our bad situations. If you've been well refined by troubles, people will be able to see Jesus' reflection in you. Just like that precious gem will give a perfect reflection, we will reflect the character and personality of Jesus.
But in order to be refined in such ways, you must respond to problems the way that Jesus would. You can't simply say you'll become a child of God and join Him in Heaven because you believe in Him. You must live with the focus of your life being to follow and trust Him. God always wants what is best for you, you just have to trust Him. We won't always understand how the situations we are going through can in any way make things better for us, but if you truly put your faith in God, in the end you will come out as a stronger person.
Many people become bitter and sit around depressed in self-pity when things start getting bad. They'll lay around in bed for days or months praying expecting God to rid them of their pain. They'll start to treat others wrongly and expect the world to give them more sympathy and love for what they've been through. We need to learn to be more proactive though. God has done His part, and regardless of whether or not those around us had anything to do with the pain we are going through, resentment and anger are no reflection of Christ, so the stubborn ones who act like this can just expect things to get worse for them. God is all we need. Don't let it get to point of where God is all you have left, before you realize that. When your character and personality reflects that of Jesus, good people will naturally want to love and comfort you for what you're going through. And if not, give me a call, I'll be a friend for you, but most importantly you should continue to praise God more and more each day anyway, make Him your best friend (He should be anyway), and great will be your reward in Heaven. So there, you've got an even better reason to be thankful than most people!
Pain is a way of God calling us to Him. If you've been suffering through hard times for a long period of time, it is quite likely that God is calling you. You may think that you are saved because you believe in God and go to church and all, but the true test is whether or not your character and personality reflect Jesus'. Some people begin to fall away in times of trouble or unconsciously expect others to pity them. Instead of just letting go of the past, they make it a part of their life, continuing to replay it again and again in their minds, laying in bed day after day, and telling everyone they come across about the trouble they are enduring. But this is no reflection of Christ.
It is very important that we learn to focus on God in times of trouble, instead of focusing on our pain. If we lay around depressed saying we just wish it'd all go away, or we wish this or that didn't happen and saying we'll never feel any better, then most likely you're exactly right, you never will feel any better, because you are refusing to allow yourself to. You must learn to realize that the way out of it is to put the focus on God, not the pain. Give the pain to Him, and be thankful for what you still have. Remember that pain is only temporary, but if you praise God through the storm, your reward will be eternal.
You may say "but you have no idea what I'm going through", and I may not, but I do know that the God who created you and loves you more than anything has the power and desire to turn any situation around. The key is you have to put your trust in Him. The Bible says to give thanks through all circumstances. That doesn't mean to thank God for everything. We aren't to thank God for sin or pain. It says to give thanks during these times of trouble. Praise God for being who He is, and trust and thank Him that he will deliver you of your troubles one day. If we sit around in self-pity, we'll be one of those stubborn gems, pretending to be praising God, but in reality it's nothing more than a lable. True praise comes from the heart. It's a matter of our real intentions, not a matter of what others see or hear. KNOW that God is a loving God and that He wants you to learn from your troubles and come out of them as a better person than before. Have faith in this and He will deliver you when it is His will.
I know someone who claims to have fallen away from the faith because he is so depressed all the time and has been through such a rough past. He stopped believing in God because he felt that if God truly loved him, He would not have allowed such things to happen. But again this is a selfish view, and not only that, it shows that he never truly had the faith in the first place, he was simply unconsciously expecting to get good things from God. If this describes you, be honest with yourself, how have YOU shown love to God? Love is about giving, not about expecting others to give to you because of your pain. What God wants is for us to trust Him as a child would trust a parent, and to always believe that someday He will bring us out better and stronger than we were before the storm struck.
It has happened to me many times in the past. I've been in both possitions. I've been there when it just seems like nothing will go my way and I thought my life was being ruined. I'd lay around in self-pity all the time, asking where God was and why this was happening to me. And as I continued to live like this, things never really got better for me. In fact at times they'd get worse. But I soon realized one day that I was not showing God any love myself. All I was doing was expecting things of Him. So I stopped asking "why me?", and started praising Him, knowing that He is refining me into being a better person. I began to ask instead what it was He was wanting me to do or learn. And before long, that simple change in attitude itself had an enourmous impact on my situations.
So priase God through your storm. Whatever troubles you may be having today, I ask you to please make yourself decide right now that you aren't going to sit around in self-pity anymore. It doesn't matter what other people think of you, how lonely you are, or what you are going through, there is nothing God cannot fix, because He is God. Do you truly believe it? If so, then don't just claim it, put it into action, by making the decision to praise God for being who He is. Thank Him for using your troubles to refine you into a better person. God knows our pain and He does not like to see us go through such things. So if you worship and praise Him through your storm, you'll soon realize that He knows you're in pain, and He wants to deliver you. The only trouble is, YOU have unconsciously decided that it is not time for deliverence yet, because your purpose in that situation has not been fulfilled. If you truly in your heart trust Him and praise Him, He will show you what it is He is wanting you to learn, and as you change into that better person, He will begin to take away your pain much quicker.
Today's Prayer
God, I realize that sometimes I focus so much on how bad things may be going in my life that I forget to praise you for the good things, and the better things yet to come. I expect too often for you to deliver me of my pain so that I can go back to living the way I want. Help me to realize today that it is me who is not doing the loving. I am often too stubborn or weak in faith to trust You to refine me into a better person, and to deliver me of my troubles. Help me to recognize that if I just praise and thank you, you will show me what it is you want me to learn, and I will become a better person to bring glory to your name. Amen
Today's Task
Today take whatever may be bothering you and give it to God. Force yourself to stand up and put a smile on your face because you are not alone in the world, God loves you, and so do I. Instead of asking God why this had to happen to you, ask Him what it is He wants you to do to come out of this trial as a better person, and thank Him for His love and Him wanting to make you into this better person.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Bible passages taken from the New International Version
It is my wish that for this new year you will take these devotionals to heart and that they will be a blessing to you. What I have learned over the past few years has changed my life forever, so I hope to bless others with that same wisdom. At the end of each devotional will be a daily task. I encourage you to take these words to heart and do these tasks each day, while reflecting over these readings throughout the day. If you honestly do this, I promise you it will be transforming.
Today's Scripture
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Today's Word
Some people say, "If there was really a loving God, He would not allow such pain and suffering in the world." But this is the opposite of the truth, and is actually a selfish thing to say. When you learn to look at the world through God's perspective, you'll begin to realize that there truly is a purpose for everything. There is a reason we go through troubles and hard times. There is a reason you lost that loved one, have trouble in relationships, suffer from depression, or struggle with that illness.
The purpose of these troubles is to be refined. We live in a fallen world that is slave to sin. No one can escape pain and suffering in this life, it is something we all have to learn to live with. But it does not have to be something we should just learn to accept, in fact, we shouldn't simply learn to accept it, we should learn to seek the good in each of our troubles. The purpose of pain and suffering in this life is to refine us and prepare us for eternity. Many times throughout the Bible, even some of the most spiritual men went through some of the most difficult trials. But these men did not sit around in self-pity, they looked to God in faith that they would be delivered.
God will very often allow Satan to attack us with pain and suffering, for the purpose of us learning to become more like His Son, Jesus. He uses trials in our life to develop our character and personality. When we make a mistake or lose a loved one, there is often nothing we can do about it. We can't change the past, the past is past, mistakes can be forgiven and relationships restored, but what's done is done, so these circumstances force us to look to God for our support, instead of the world or ourselves. It is then that God has us realize that we usually only tend to look to Him in times of trouble. Is it any wonder then that He allows us to go through such pain? He wants us to look to Him as our total guide and support, all the time, not just when things go wrong.
We are like precious gems being prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven. At birth, we were harvested from the mine, and through this life we are chiseled from a rough dark rock into a beautiful gem or diamond. If we are stubborn and do not look to God as our guide, the chiseling becomes harder, and we continue to suffer more and more until finally, if the gem proves to be too stubborn to listen to and love God, it is thrown away into the fire. But the gems that put their hope and trust in God become another magnificent sparkle in His Kingdom, to be loved and cherished forever.
The more difficult a situation, the greater opportunity for us to grow spiritually. We must learn to look to God as our Father, realizing that only He can make good out of our bad situations. If you've been well refined by troubles, people will be able to see Jesus' reflection in you. Just like that precious gem will give a perfect reflection, we will reflect the character and personality of Jesus.
But in order to be refined in such ways, you must respond to problems the way that Jesus would. You can't simply say you'll become a child of God and join Him in Heaven because you believe in Him. You must live with the focus of your life being to follow and trust Him. God always wants what is best for you, you just have to trust Him. We won't always understand how the situations we are going through can in any way make things better for us, but if you truly put your faith in God, in the end you will come out as a stronger person.
Many people become bitter and sit around depressed in self-pity when things start getting bad. They'll lay around in bed for days or months praying expecting God to rid them of their pain. They'll start to treat others wrongly and expect the world to give them more sympathy and love for what they've been through. We need to learn to be more proactive though. God has done His part, and regardless of whether or not those around us had anything to do with the pain we are going through, resentment and anger are no reflection of Christ, so the stubborn ones who act like this can just expect things to get worse for them. God is all we need. Don't let it get to point of where God is all you have left, before you realize that. When your character and personality reflects that of Jesus, good people will naturally want to love and comfort you for what you're going through. And if not, give me a call, I'll be a friend for you, but most importantly you should continue to praise God more and more each day anyway, make Him your best friend (He should be anyway), and great will be your reward in Heaven. So there, you've got an even better reason to be thankful than most people!
Pain is a way of God calling us to Him. If you've been suffering through hard times for a long period of time, it is quite likely that God is calling you. You may think that you are saved because you believe in God and go to church and all, but the true test is whether or not your character and personality reflect Jesus'. Some people begin to fall away in times of trouble or unconsciously expect others to pity them. Instead of just letting go of the past, they make it a part of their life, continuing to replay it again and again in their minds, laying in bed day after day, and telling everyone they come across about the trouble they are enduring. But this is no reflection of Christ.
It is very important that we learn to focus on God in times of trouble, instead of focusing on our pain. If we lay around depressed saying we just wish it'd all go away, or we wish this or that didn't happen and saying we'll never feel any better, then most likely you're exactly right, you never will feel any better, because you are refusing to allow yourself to. You must learn to realize that the way out of it is to put the focus on God, not the pain. Give the pain to Him, and be thankful for what you still have. Remember that pain is only temporary, but if you praise God through the storm, your reward will be eternal.
You may say "but you have no idea what I'm going through", and I may not, but I do know that the God who created you and loves you more than anything has the power and desire to turn any situation around. The key is you have to put your trust in Him. The Bible says to give thanks through all circumstances. That doesn't mean to thank God for everything. We aren't to thank God for sin or pain. It says to give thanks during these times of trouble. Praise God for being who He is, and trust and thank Him that he will deliver you of your troubles one day. If we sit around in self-pity, we'll be one of those stubborn gems, pretending to be praising God, but in reality it's nothing more than a lable. True praise comes from the heart. It's a matter of our real intentions, not a matter of what others see or hear. KNOW that God is a loving God and that He wants you to learn from your troubles and come out of them as a better person than before. Have faith in this and He will deliver you when it is His will.
I know someone who claims to have fallen away from the faith because he is so depressed all the time and has been through such a rough past. He stopped believing in God because he felt that if God truly loved him, He would not have allowed such things to happen. But again this is a selfish view, and not only that, it shows that he never truly had the faith in the first place, he was simply unconsciously expecting to get good things from God. If this describes you, be honest with yourself, how have YOU shown love to God? Love is about giving, not about expecting others to give to you because of your pain. What God wants is for us to trust Him as a child would trust a parent, and to always believe that someday He will bring us out better and stronger than we were before the storm struck.
It has happened to me many times in the past. I've been in both possitions. I've been there when it just seems like nothing will go my way and I thought my life was being ruined. I'd lay around in self-pity all the time, asking where God was and why this was happening to me. And as I continued to live like this, things never really got better for me. In fact at times they'd get worse. But I soon realized one day that I was not showing God any love myself. All I was doing was expecting things of Him. So I stopped asking "why me?", and started praising Him, knowing that He is refining me into being a better person. I began to ask instead what it was He was wanting me to do or learn. And before long, that simple change in attitude itself had an enourmous impact on my situations.
So priase God through your storm. Whatever troubles you may be having today, I ask you to please make yourself decide right now that you aren't going to sit around in self-pity anymore. It doesn't matter what other people think of you, how lonely you are, or what you are going through, there is nothing God cannot fix, because He is God. Do you truly believe it? If so, then don't just claim it, put it into action, by making the decision to praise God for being who He is. Thank Him for using your troubles to refine you into a better person. God knows our pain and He does not like to see us go through such things. So if you worship and praise Him through your storm, you'll soon realize that He knows you're in pain, and He wants to deliver you. The only trouble is, YOU have unconsciously decided that it is not time for deliverence yet, because your purpose in that situation has not been fulfilled. If you truly in your heart trust Him and praise Him, He will show you what it is He is wanting you to learn, and as you change into that better person, He will begin to take away your pain much quicker.
Today's Prayer
God, I realize that sometimes I focus so much on how bad things may be going in my life that I forget to praise you for the good things, and the better things yet to come. I expect too often for you to deliver me of my pain so that I can go back to living the way I want. Help me to realize today that it is me who is not doing the loving. I am often too stubborn or weak in faith to trust You to refine me into a better person, and to deliver me of my troubles. Help me to recognize that if I just praise and thank you, you will show me what it is you want me to learn, and I will become a better person to bring glory to your name. Amen
Today's Task
Today take whatever may be bothering you and give it to God. Force yourself to stand up and put a smile on your face because you are not alone in the world, God loves you, and so do I. Instead of asking God why this had to happen to you, ask Him what it is He wants you to do to come out of this trial as a better person, and thank Him for His love and Him wanting to make you into this better person.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Bible passages taken from the New International Version
