- Tuesday, 3/22/22 Isaiah 26:4, Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. We all know it’s easier to trust
when all is going well; but our faith is shines brightest when they aren’t. Even in the valley, God is good. How do we develop love for someone or some thing? Of course, first we have to choose to love, but how do we build warm feelings? “Where our treasure is, there will our heart be.” In other words, we must invest our time, our money, and the surrendering of our will. (Those are our treasures.) Psalm 119:165, Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Invest your time, your money, and your will into the Bible. The result will be great peace in your heart.
- Wednesday, 3/23/22 Proverbs 18:22, Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. Fellas, how often and how earnestly do you thank God for your wife? (Ladies, you too.) As one who was without one for years, I know they can be lost, and I feel so blest to have been trusted with one again. Treasure her and make sure she feels treasured. 1 Peter 1:13, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. God gives His children the recipe for how to please Him while in trouble: restrain your thinking: keep it from going to erroneous extremes (“God doesn’t love me; He doesn’t know what I’m going through...”); be discreet: act on purpose and with a purpose instead of reacting; and finally, keep on hoping. Hope is the step beyond faith. It is knowing it is going to come to pass, but having to still wait. God WILL come through for you: He has to: He’s a loving almighty God. Control your thinking, focus your thoughts, and wait for it...
- Thursday, 3/24/22 Mark 7:2, And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. Perhaps the core problem with the Pharisees is that they thought they had a corner on the truth. “I KNOW we’re right; therefore, anything else is WRONG.” Are you teachable, or do you know it all already? Psalm 60:3, Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. A reminder that God can get our complete attention at ANY time. If we won’t respond to more gentle calls to repentance or change or improvement, He can, and will, jerk our chain. Have you been ignoring His nudges?
- Friday, 3/25/22 1 Peter 2:1-2, Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. Has your Bible reading been a bit dry lately? A waste of time? V1 says to confess and forsake sin before getting to v2. Psalm 121:2-3, My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Notice the change in pronouns. The psalmist was trying to give his faith to another. He was trying to encourage another. We must likewise share our trust. It’ll help others and it’ll help us.
- Saturday, 3/26/22 Isaiah 49:1-2a, The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword... Sometimes, an authority’s words are to be sharp, cutting, and painful. Not often, and not without hope and love and restoration soon after, but sometimes a good, godly leader won’t be very nice. Isaiah 50:5, The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. Do you pray that God will speak to you in devotion time and church? Do you act on what He says to you? (A good indicator might be how long it’s been since you made the effort, humbled yourself, and went to the altar. Of course, that’s between you and God, and I ask simply to prompt introspection.)
- Sunday, 3/27/22 Psalm 67:1, God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. This is all we truly need. If God is on our side, what else do we need? If God is not on our side, nothing else matters. Make sure things are good with you and the Lord. Go have a 1-man revival meeting today. Psalm 68:4a, Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. I just had this thought: it’s good when we sing gospel songs as we go about our day. It shows that spiritual matters are close to the top in our brain. But, let’s stop and think and then purposefully direct our songs TO the Lord. Make it more than background music.
- Monday, 3/28/22 Psalm 23:1, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Any lack that we feel is more of a perception problem on my part than a supply problem on His. We need to A) discipline our appetites to want less. B) trust that what He gives is what we need and all we need. Psalm 23:2, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Sheep don’t always want what is best, so the shepherd uses: A) dogs (who look a LOT like a viscous enemy); B) a staff (“that mean shepherd doesn’t like me...”); C) Schedule (“But I don't wanna walk further; I wanna eat NOW!!”) We are definitely sheep, aren’t we?|
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