God Always Preserves His Own

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Perhaps today, you are looking at your life and asking, “How did I get here?” Maybe life hasn’t turned out the way you planned. Or maybe you’re enslaved to your past and you wonder, “What do I do now?”

If this describes you or someone you love today, I want to remind you that God always preserves His own. Remember Joseph’s many trials and challenges in the Old Testament? In Genesis 39:2, we read, “The LORD was with Joseph.” Now, remember—Joseph wasn’t preserved from his circumstances. He was preserved in and through his circumstances.

The fact is we can’t change our circumstances. We can’t control what happens to us at all times. But you know what? We can change how we respond to the circumstances of life. And that attitude is what God expects us to work on.

You know, God often allows circumstances and winds to blow against us in order to knock the rough edges off of our lives. Kind of like how sandpaper knocks the rough edges off of wood. God uses the circumstances of our lives in order to polish us and make us more like the Master.

For example, perhaps God had to deal with Joseph’s pride and ego before He could ultimately use him for His glory. So God allowed him to be sold into slavery and sent into Egypt. But remember this: While Joseph left his father back in Canaan, his heavenly Father went with him to Egypt.

If you find yourself in a difficult circumstance that you never imagined or never dreamed of, claim the promise from the Lord found in today’s Scripture: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

When you claim that promise, you can be joyful in any circumstance, knowing that God is protecting you, preserving you, and holding His hand upon you.

YOU CAN’T ALWAYS CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU,
BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS CONTROL HOW YOU RESPOND.


From: Crosswalk Devotionals

False Freedom

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:12 (NRSV)

GROWING up, I had attended church with a frequency that caused a friend of mine to quip, "I always thought your family lived at church." But I stopped going to church while in college because it was an inconvenience. I wanted to sleep in, but mostly I wanted to exercise my newly found freedom from my parents.

Fellowship with God had given me a continuous flow of energy, sustenance, and hope. Why did I turn my back on it? The lifestyle I chose was typical of many young adults, one that encouraged freedom, independence, and self-reliance. I would have been reluctant to admit it, but with each step toward that way of life I distanced myself from God and suppressed the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. At one of my low points I remember remarking to my parents, "God has forgotten me."

When I returned to church eight years ago, it was like coming home. I felt welcomed, not just by the congregation but by God as well. By human reason, I should have been past the point where God offers forgiveness. Yet God reached down in infinite love and grace and rescued me from the ruin I had made on my own. God gave me a new life, one worth waking up to.


Prayer
O God, thank you for showing us the path to true freedom through the life, death, and resurrection of your son. Amen.


From: UpperRoom - Carol P. Nyborg

When Worship Meets Heaven

The Purpose of Prayer

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ — Luke 11:1

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

"Ask, and you will receive . . ." ( John 16:24 ). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." ( Matthew 18:3 ). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that "prayer changes things" is not as close to the truth as saying, "Prayer changes me and then I change things." God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things.

Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.


From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest