- Tuesday, 11/29/22 Jeremiah 10:19, Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. That which must be endured, can be endured. You can take whatever
God sends. He sends problems to: 1) Show us what we can do. 2) Big problems that force us to lean on Him. 3) Humble us. 4) Do things that only could happen via pain. Psalm 58:1, Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Remember that what we should consider as our level for acceptable behavior is not, 1) our viewpoint; 2) society’s viewpoint; 3) better than average; or even, 4) better than we used to be. Rather, it is “be ye perfect.” Keep striving.
- Wednesday, 11/30/22 Psalm 59:9, Because of [the strength of the wicked] will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. It’s common sense, but when the enemy flexes his muscles, we need to up our game too. Don’t wilt with discouragement; consume more Bible; add more prayer time; go soul winning again; give more. Psalm 60:1, O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. It’s not that God is hesitant to turn back to us and cease His anger, and therefore, we need to beg and beg and beg. The reason He may “play hard to get” is to induce true humility and repentance in our hearts. Allow your heart to soften; admit the wickedness of your actions; put your face on the floor and confess your iniquity...He’ll turn back right away.
- Thursday, 12/1/22 Feeling pretty beat down and rejected by everyone, including God? Isaiah 53:3, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. This wasn’t the last chapter for Jesus; choose to not make your current situation your final hurrah. Luke 5:5, And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. “Oh man, I’m SSOOOO tired. I deserve a break!” No, you deserve and I deserve to obey the Lord: when it’s easy and convenient, and when it costs me sleep, money, pride, position, effort, reputation, or all of the above. God won’t always come to us when we’re rested and ready. (And neither will Satan with his temptations.)
- Friday, 12/2/22 Luke 7:13, And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on [the woman burying her son], and said unto her, Weep not. Because we are so short-sighted, we may get a commandment from the Lord that seems almost cruel and painfully ridiculous. In the moment, the 2 words, “weep not” must’ve hurt deeply. But God loves us, even when we don’t understand Him or see His plan. So...dear friend: “_______ not.” (You fill in your unique blank.) Isaiah 53:3, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. When He was crucified, even the Lord’s closest associates felt that they’d made a mistake in believing Him to be the coming Messiah. (“But we trusted that it had been he..., Luke 24:21). A simple reminder for us all (beginning with me): our opinion, regardless of how diligently we had accumulated all of the facts and carefully deduced what’s what MAY BE 100% OFF-BASE. Be humble enough to admit your error, and admit it quickly. Get used to eating crow and swallowing pride.
- Saturday, 12/3/22 Jeremiah 15:6, Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. The one character trait of which God does not have an infinite amount is patience toward sin. He does have a point of no return. Jeremiah 17:14, Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. He praised while still being afflicted. If we would do that, we would come a lot closer to getting delivered. If the affliction is from Satan and we praise, he’ll back off. If it’s from God and we praise, we’re in communication with Him and are probably learning or are open to learning the lesson He’s trying to teach.
- Sunday, 12/4/22 Jeremiah 22:5, But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. The temple was their object of supreme pride and national identity. Lesson: God knows where to hit you exactly where it’ll hurt the most. Quit toying with sin. Luke 4:3, And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. After God makes a statement (“This is my beloved Son...”), Satan raises a question. “Salvation is by grace thru faith.” “Good works have to help don’t they?” “I will preserve my Word to the letter.” “Aren’t all the translations basically the same?” “Assemble yourselves in a bonafide local church.” “Small groups are more effective, don’t you think?” “Give tithes and offerings to Me through the church.” “Who can afford 10%? Besides, it was done away with...” “Be holy, submissive, modest, traditional roles...” “Really?” Be careful which spiritual voices you listen to and which humans are speaking.
- Monday, 12/5/22 Proverbs 26:13, The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. Are you more likely to point out why something cannot be done or to start to figure out HOW to do it? Are the “voice of reason” or the “beacon of how”? Be innovative and positive at work today. Proverbs 31:12, [The virtuous woman/wife] will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. I’m guessing that in “all the days of her life” there would be some days when her husband offends her; when he doesn’t try; when he’s sinful, selfish, and/or backslidden. But, the virtuous woman never misses a beat... Ladies, measure yourself. (Fellas, we need some virtue also: are we loving her as Christ loved us?)
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