Post by solitarysoul on Apr 25, 2007 21:14:38 GMT -5
"Trusting God" - Devotion for April 20th, 2007
Today's Scripture
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6
Today's Word
When someone becomes a Christian, they accept Jesus into their heart as their personal Lord and Savior. He is our Savior because He gave His life for the forgiveness of our sins, and our Lord because through becoming a Christian we choose to follow His will and direction in our lives.
It is very hard to trust in God with all your heart. That means completely giving over your life to Him, and risking the possibility of all sorts of changes in your life, turning away from some of the very things you may have been familiar with for as long as you can remember. A closer look at Proverbs 3:5-6 doesn't simply tell us to trust Jesus; it lets us know as well how to give our lives over to Him.
Firstly we must honestly realize and believe in God's power and capability to lead our lives and take care of us. Jesus said He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He was with the Father in the beginning, and He is one with the Father. God is not bound by time since He created time. Nor does He ever forget us, or whatever we are going through, because He is perfect and all knowing. So we can know that God is certainly far more capable of directing our lives than anyone else, because He knew everything we would face in life even since before we were born, and He knows what is best for us in every situation. Jesus never spoke a word on His own will or of His own thoughts. It all came from the Father, and He knows where each step in life will take us.
Next the scripture says, " in all your ways acknowledge Him ." Note the emphasis; never once in the entire Bible did God say that we are to acknowledge and trust Him only with the biggest decisions in our lives. Most people just pray when they have something big coming up, such as a life changing event or decision, a job, relationship, grades, etc. But the Bible says to acknowledge God in ALL your ways, the big and the small. This can even include decisions such as what type of clothing to wear, how to talk, how to treat others, who to hang out with, etc. To acknowledge Him in all your ways means to get all your answers from Him and His Word, sometimes even decisions we may normally make subconsciously.
Always spend a good amount of time each day praying. Tell God how you are feeling, what's on your mind, and ask for direction in certain decisions, both big and small. But we have to seek His will, not our own. We should not pray to ask for God to grant us specific requests and desires we wish for. We should pray for God's will to be done, and for His guidance in our lives. It is very important to also spend time in His Word daily. If you need to make decisions about something, read what the Bible has to say about it. Be open and prepared to hear messages from God. He speaks to us through His Word mostly, but He also sometimes uses friends, sermons, messages such as these, and even strangers, to answer your prayers and help you understand what His will in a situation is.
Something we have to keep in mind is that because we are not infinite like God, we only see life from a limited perspective and understanding. While God sees our entire life, every event that takes place in it, and where each step will take us, we only see life one event at a time. So a lot of the time we will not understand why things are happening the way they are. It is therefore very easy to think that life is nothing more than a sequence of random events that may or may not play out for good in the end, and that we must pray in hopes that God might remember us and choose to change our circumstances. But we must remember that God knows everything about our lives, past, present, and future as well. So He sees how all things will work together, and He has promised us that all things will work for good for those who love Him.
We will all go through many difficult trials along the way, some more than others, but if you have faith you will notice good come out of the bad, and you will realize in your heart that God really is always there.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the
devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.
Today's Scripture
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6
Today's Word
When someone becomes a Christian, they accept Jesus into their heart as their personal Lord and Savior. He is our Savior because He gave His life for the forgiveness of our sins, and our Lord because through becoming a Christian we choose to follow His will and direction in our lives.
It is very hard to trust in God with all your heart. That means completely giving over your life to Him, and risking the possibility of all sorts of changes in your life, turning away from some of the very things you may have been familiar with for as long as you can remember. A closer look at Proverbs 3:5-6 doesn't simply tell us to trust Jesus; it lets us know as well how to give our lives over to Him.
Firstly we must honestly realize and believe in God's power and capability to lead our lives and take care of us. Jesus said He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He was with the Father in the beginning, and He is one with the Father. God is not bound by time since He created time. Nor does He ever forget us, or whatever we are going through, because He is perfect and all knowing. So we can know that God is certainly far more capable of directing our lives than anyone else, because He knew everything we would face in life even since before we were born, and He knows what is best for us in every situation. Jesus never spoke a word on His own will or of His own thoughts. It all came from the Father, and He knows where each step in life will take us.
Next the scripture says, " in all your ways acknowledge Him ." Note the emphasis; never once in the entire Bible did God say that we are to acknowledge and trust Him only with the biggest decisions in our lives. Most people just pray when they have something big coming up, such as a life changing event or decision, a job, relationship, grades, etc. But the Bible says to acknowledge God in ALL your ways, the big and the small. This can even include decisions such as what type of clothing to wear, how to talk, how to treat others, who to hang out with, etc. To acknowledge Him in all your ways means to get all your answers from Him and His Word, sometimes even decisions we may normally make subconsciously.
Always spend a good amount of time each day praying. Tell God how you are feeling, what's on your mind, and ask for direction in certain decisions, both big and small. But we have to seek His will, not our own. We should not pray to ask for God to grant us specific requests and desires we wish for. We should pray for God's will to be done, and for His guidance in our lives. It is very important to also spend time in His Word daily. If you need to make decisions about something, read what the Bible has to say about it. Be open and prepared to hear messages from God. He speaks to us through His Word mostly, but He also sometimes uses friends, sermons, messages such as these, and even strangers, to answer your prayers and help you understand what His will in a situation is.
Something we have to keep in mind is that because we are not infinite like God, we only see life from a limited perspective and understanding. While God sees our entire life, every event that takes place in it, and where each step will take us, we only see life one event at a time. So a lot of the time we will not understand why things are happening the way they are. It is therefore very easy to think that life is nothing more than a sequence of random events that may or may not play out for good in the end, and that we must pray in hopes that God might remember us and choose to change our circumstances. But we must remember that God knows everything about our lives, past, present, and future as well. So He sees how all things will work together, and He has promised us that all things will work for good for those who love Him.
We will all go through many difficult trials along the way, some more than others, but if you have faith you will notice good come out of the bad, and you will realize in your heart that God really is always there.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the
devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.