An attitude of David during trials

S   Psalm 56
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4     In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can man do to me?

12 I am under vows to you, my God;
    I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
    and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

O -   This psalm of David is a reminder to me of how my attitude  should be especially in challenging times and trials in my life.    David psalm is paired with a reading today of his son Absalom's death, following his overthrowing David as King of Israel.    I can imagine the great sorrow that brought David,  but we see here his great perspective on who God is in His life.   He can be trusted,  is worthy of our praise,  takes away our fear,  deserve our thank offering,  and delivers us from our stumbling, delivering us into His ways.

A - The application for me is to be encouraged in the Lord, not to be discouraged by circumstances and what I fear of those surrounding me.    I must continually reflect on the eternal leadership of God of my soul.   It is not to be troubled by things that are occuring in the world, or fear of what people think, but trust in God's plan for my life, eternally. 

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this message,  I pray my mind, heart and soul would be encouraged by David's words, and your Holy Spirit would fill me with encouraging words of truth and healing, and protection from the enemies whispers that distract me, or my own critical spirit.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen

The power of the holy spirit over the troubled soul

S  - Matt 26

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

O- Jesus was fully man and fully God.  He came from heaven to earth,  to save us.  One of the ways he did so was to fully experience what it means to be man and experience the pressures and tensions of this world, and to be fully tempted by sin.    Here we not only see him face pressures of the world, but the tension of being obedient to the will of God.   He faces so with close friends, recognizing he needs to surround himself with the strongest of men, and then faces it with prayer to God the father.   His sorrow was deep and genuine and we see that though he was fully God, and had a close relationship to God,  he soul was still overwhelmed with sorrow.  

A- The application is to understand that while Jesus soul was troubled to the point of death,  the spirit in Him was able to overcome.    For me at times my soul is troubled, my circumstances around me appear to be bleak and I feel overwhelmed.  My hope lies in the spirit of God that is in me, and its ability to overcome my own doubts and fears,  and trust in the Lords plan for my life.

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your continued residence in my heart.  Thank you for continuing to overcome all my doubts and fears, and I pray that you would conquer all the doubts and fears in me.   Holy Spirit speak to quickly before my flesh reacts to what my mind and soul would believe to be true, and act outwardly in a ways that doesn't represent who you are or your love for those around me.  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

rewards for followers of Christ - the first shall be last

S Matt 20
The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last

O-  This is a parable to help the followers of Christ eventually understand who they are and how not to grumble about those that follow them.   You see they are the first workers selected and will work their entire lives for the purpose of God and will face trials and tribulations and will receive their reward in heaven.   They will bring the good news to people who have lived their whole lives without following and serving God, but have been given salvation and eternity with God in heaven, and yet had to do very little.  This can and will cause a bitterness in those who have served God and lived for Him their whole lives, but Jesus is telling the disciples that can't be so with you,  you will become just like the pharisee's, instead the script is flipped and the last will be first, and the first will be last to enter into the kingdom of heaven and our attitude should be one of gratefullness and the extra ordinary generosity of our Lord and savior.

A-   The application for me is to understand the longer in the tooth I get as a Christian, the more my tendency will be to think like the servants that worked all day, that hey I somehow deserve more,  or deserve not to face the same trials and tribulations than those who have not been following and serving Christ face.   Today I face depression,  trials and uncertainty in my career, struggles in my marriage, and at times a lack of confidence in my parenting.   This has me grumbling and doubting what good it has done for me to follow God.  Today's scripture reminds me I have received the treasure of eternity with God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide me through these seasons, and that is such a phenomenal gift that there is nothing to grumble about. 

P - Dear heavenly Father, I am sorry my heart has doubt about the great gift you have given me in my salvation.  I face trouble and hard work today, not because of you, but can now live differently through these trials.  My reward is in the eternal relationship I have gained with you.  Lord I ask for help erasing the doubts and fears in me and protect me from the enemies attacking my thought life.   I pray all this in Jesus name,  Amen.

 

Unforgiveness in relationships

S -Matt 18
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

O -  This parable is of a servant whose master has forgiven his debt,   but who goes on to be unforgiving to one who is debt to him.    The lessons for me is blunt and convicting.  I have begged for the Lord's forgiveness, received his grace and his healing, yet I hold others to debt that God does not hold me to.  

A -  The application for me is my marriage and my co workers.  Under the stress of the moment, in my own disattifaction I have shown a lack of grace and forgiveness.   For my wife I have been tracking her debts and not forgiving them,   I have allowed them to build up and not honestly share them with her, and allow the process of forgiveness to cover them, and allow God's love and grace flow over it.    I have not gone to the Lord on our behalf , as man and wife, to present our problems and pray for a covering and a healing.  

P - Lord I pray now that the unforgiveness that remains in my marriage you would help Abby and I work through.  I repent for my selfish ways and ask that you show me how to lead us through this season.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

Seed planted amongst the thorns

S-Matt 13
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]

22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful

O- Jesus tells the parable of the sower because he knows man, and how we are.   There will be sinners,  some will repent, their will be some who confess and call Jesus Lord, but are swayed by the world.    We see that though one receives the good news and begins to grow in it, the wories of the world and deceitfulness of wealth in the world has the ability to choke out the growth.  Jesus does give us hope though, he understands our heart becomes calloused, our ears do not hear him, and our eyes do not see him working all around,   If we soften our heart and seek to hear and see him , He will heal us from the affects of the world.

A -  The application is my confession.   I am the seed that fell amongst the thorns, and have allowed my heart to be calloused, and sight and vision to be muted because the worries and things the world values have distracted me.  In particular work and my home have drawn my attention away from God in an unhealthy way. For this I am forever sorry that I allowed the joy of the Lord to be replaced with the drive for acceptance at work, and the grasping for something at home that was a want and not a need.   I need to continue to seek the Lord and pray that he softens my calloused heart, and stop and listen for the Lord, for he is present I am just not hearting and seeing Him.

P - Lord my prayer is that you would heal me,  heal my marriage,  give me strength to pull myself and my family out of this season,  and back to you.   I confess I don't know how, or can't hear and see you, and pray that your voice would be resounding in me, and that I would see the path that you would lay before me.  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Grow in mercy not sacrifice

S - Matt  12
5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

O-  Jesus came to make corrections and give example of the truth of who God is and who He desires us to be.   Over time it is us that begin to deviate from God's intended path, to follow our own.   In the case here Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders that are just looking for a reason to call Jesus and His disciples guilty of violating the sabbath,  when Jesus corrects them because their head and hearts are in the wrong place.  They chose strict obedience to rules, instead of obedience to the heart that delivered the rules.   The Lord gave the sabbath as a give to man, a time to pause, reflect, revel in God's love and creation,   even a time to correct back to the heart of God.   Instead these men on the sabbath spent there time condemning vice being in awe of the teachings of Jesus and the acts of great love and mercy of  Jesus and the disciples.  And finally in the verse 6 we see the heart of God revealed through Christ that he desires us to show mercy as he has, not to sacrifice and suffer as proof of our love for God.   The sabbath is not for punishment but a gift.

A - The application for me is to first and foremost take time to reflect on my own attitude toward the sabbath.  I have grown in my celebration and honoring of the sabbath, as a means to rest and reflect.  Of recent I haven't been as reflective of God's creation and great mercy and gifts in my life and I need to improve this area.   In terms of attitude overal I need to reflect on my own life and be sure I am realigning to the principle of mercy and not condemning myself or others for not sacrificing.  God is growing empathy and mercy  in me, and I need to apply it first and foremost at home.

P - Dear heavenly father, thank you for never letting go of me.  I pray for Holy Spirit in showing love and mercy to my wife and kids during this challenging move period.  Give me wisdom and peace to build them up not ask them for sacrifice, especially in who you have created them to be.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Take off the old yoke, and put on Christ' yoke

S- psalm 109
But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;
    out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting;
    my body is thin and gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, Lord my God;
    save me according to your unfailing love.
27 Let them know that it is your hand,
    that you, Lord, have done it.

Matt 11
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

O -  We see here David's cry out to the Lord and Jesus' response to the world  and thus to all of us who choose Jesus as Lord and savior.  We can see that David has chose God as his Lord and savior because he cries out to him.    I have David as an example of remembering to  seek God is my challenging times, and wait on His response and direction.   I see from Jesus he is the answer to our prayers to take the burdens of this world from us.   Jesus describes following him as the better path because He has a different yoke, than the yoke of the world.  He doesn't promise to remove the yoke completely though because we still have our part to do in our relationship with God, one of reverence with obedience.  

A -  I am reminded by today's devotion that God's yoke I can handle, but when I yoke myself to my expections the world has for me it can be overwhelming and lead me down the wrong path, chasing things of this world, and praises of man.    God has saved me from my old self for a purpose.  That purpose is to glorify him at home and at work,  to show how his love works better than my definition of love.   I am to love with grace and discipline to how God loves.  I am to forgive like I need to be forgiven.   I am to serve like Jesus served.   The application for me is to ensure I am putting on Jesus'  yoke and not the many yokes of the world.    I am to serve at work with humble grace, and love.   I am to love my wife like Christ loves the church.  I am to raise my children up in the ways they should go, and I am serve the local church where God is calling me.

P - Dear Lord, I cry out like David, in my weakness, I need your strength to overcome my circumstances today.   You have worked out things at work for me and I am ever thankful, and desire to continue to represent you love and grace there.  I am in need of your touch on my marriage and attitude to traverse this very tense move season.  There are giants we are faciing in this move, that I give to you to help us grow through and give you all the praise and glory for your ways are better than my ways.   I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.