Devotions

How Would You Know the Savior’s Words…
If you never felt pain, How would you know that I’m a Healer?
If you never went through difficulty, How would you know that I’m a Deliverer?
If you never had a trial, How would you know that I’m a Comforter?
If you never made a mistake, How would you know that I’m Forgiving?
If you know it all, How would you know that I will answer your questions?
If you never were in trouble, How would you know that I will come to your rescue?
If you never were broken, How would you know that I can make you whole?
If you never had a problem, Then how would you know that I can solve them?
If you never had known suffering, Then how would you know what I went through?
If you never went through the fire, Then how would you become pure?
If I gave you all things, How would you appreciate them?
If I never corrected you, How would you know that I love you?
If you had all power, Then how would you learn to depend on me?
If your life was perfect, Then what would you need me for?

A Way of Escape

1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

One of the great promises in God’s Word is that God is watching your life and He won’t let you go through any more than you can handle. First Corinthians 10:13 assures us that “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

A key word in that promise is “temptation.” In Greek, that can also be translated “trial.” God in His mercy watches you in the trial you face today. His hand is on the thermostat. If it gets too hard, 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “He will provide a way of escape.”

Do you need an exit ramp right now? He’ll provide it if you need it. How?

1. He might end the trial right now.
He can pull you right out of the fire. “That’s enough. You’ve learned it. I’m glorified in it. It’s over.” Have you ever had that happen? I have.

2. He might give you encouragement to persevere.
God will send some people along to encourage you so you know you’re not alone. He will put you on people’s hearts so they know to pray for you-and they do it.

3. He gives you wisdom to act.
“I didn’t know what to do, but God gave me insight into the situation. I would have never done that, but He showed me how. That one decision changed everything.”

4. He gives you strength to persevere.
“I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, but I can’t believe how God has energized me for a new season of faithfulness.”

5. He gives you someone to share the burden.
“I felt so alone until God brought a friend back into my life. I turned a corner. We’re walking together.”

6. He gives you a few days of relief.
“I just got away. God gave me an oasis in the middle of the desert. It renewed my strength.”

I could go on and on with these, but suffice it to say God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you’re able. He will make a way of escape for you. No trial needs to overtake you. God will provide an exit ramp--just take it.

Philosophy and science have not always been friendly towards the idea of God, the reason being that they are dedicated to the task of accounting for things and are impatient with anything that refuses to give an account of itself.

Prayer honours God, acknowledges his being, exalts his power, adores his providence, secures his aid.

As Christians we should never feel sorry for ourselves. The moment we do so, we lose our energy, we lose the will to fight and the will to live, and are paralyzed.

The Right Path

Psalm 23:1-4 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Life knocks on your front door every morning with offers to go in more directions than you could ever pursue. Some paths are obviously wrong and lead to very bad places. Go very far down one of those trails and you’ll wake up one day and say, “What am I doing over here? I had bigger dreams for my life than this.” You chose that path with a thousand small decisions, and it led you to that predictable spot. You thought you’d beat the odds, but it’s a losing proposition from the start.

However, some paths appear to be right and they’re still wrong. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way [a path] that seems right to a man, but its end is the way [the path] to death.” That maze doesn’t lead you anywhere good.

Other paths are right, but only for awhile. You might actually be on a very good path when God changes your life and sends you in a different direction.

If your heart is to get your life on the right path, then your ears ought to perk up a little bit when Psalm 23 says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness.” Literally it means “into life’s right paths.” God is very interested that you are following the right ways-the paths that lead to joy, to peace, and to blessing. Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way [or his path].” God Himself orders the path of the righteous person.

Are you with me when I say that I want to be on the pathway that leads to life and blessing? Speaking of the Lord, Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy.” It’s encouraging to know that if you’ll follow God’s lead, you’ll step confidently in the right direction. Now, it might not be your preferred direction, but in the end it’ll take you where you want to go.

I can guarantee you this: When the Lord is your Shepherd, He will guide you on the paths of righteousness.

Doubt vs. Faith

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please [God].

Christians don’t generally set out to doubt God. They don’t bring their faith into question without reason. For most of us, life’s pain simply catches us off guard. The reality of hardship trips us up. We spiral fast when we’re left on our own to entertain doubting questions and stir our circular reasoning--or even worse, when we’re left alone in the company of other doubters or bitter people.

Someone has said that doubt is cancer of the soul. Like a machete to your garden, and like a match to your house, doubt is the toxin that eats away at the fabric of the most important thing about you--what you believe about God.

However, if in times of doubt we take our questions directly to the Lord, our faith increases. God’s Word and God’s character can stand under the most microscopic scrutiny. When you say, I don’t know exactly what God is doing, but I know He’s doing something for my good -- that’s the unseen evidence of trusting Him. Don’t feel foolish waiting upon God to meet your needs. I certainly don’t. God has proven Himself faithful to keep His promises.

Doubt is a lack of confidence or assurance that God will keep His promises.

Faith is an active confidence in God.

Faith is substance. Faith is evidence. Faith is the power of a vibrant spiritual life. In fact, “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6).

So is “having faith” the important thing in life? Contrary to the opinion of a lot of sincere people--no. Faith for faith’s sake doesn’t go anywhere. Faith doesn’t have any magic. Faith in itself doesn’t save you; it can’t help you; it doesn’t give you anything you need to overcome trials. But faith is the thing that gets you to God -- and not faith in His promises, but faith in Him.

I love the song we sing as a church called, “All Things Are Possible.” A while back, a man came to me and said, “You know that ‘all things are possible’ song? People just get too rowdy when they sing that song. If you don’t stop singing that song, I’m going to have to leave the church.” And I was sorry to see him go. I don’t think any of our problems are that we’re too fired up about the promises of God as it relates to our faith. I don’t think God looks down on us and says, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, you guys are just a little too excited about Me.”

Put your doubts aside. All things are possible in Christ. Oh loved ones, if we would lay hold, even for a moment, of all that He would like to do for us if we would just believe Him!

In God there is no was or will be, but a continuous and unbroken is. In him, history and prophecy are one and the same.

Tozer, A. W.

Open Arms
by Max Lucado

If you ever wonder how in the world God could use you to change the world, look at the people God used to change history. A ragbag of ne'er-do-wells and has-beens who found hope, not in their performance, but in God's proverbially open arms.

Abraham- God took what was good and forgave what was bad and used "old forked tongue" to start a nation. Moses- would you call upon a fugitive to carry the Ten Commandments? God did. David- his track record left little to be desired, but his repentant spirit was unquestionable. Jonah- God put him in a whale's belly to bring him back to his senses. But even the whale couldn't stomach this missionary for too long.

On and on the stories go: Elijah, the prophet who pouted; Solomon, the king who knew too much; Jacob, the wheeler-dealer; Gomer, the prostitute; Sarah, the woman who giggled at God. One story after another of God using man's best and overcoming man's worst.

The reassuring lesson is clear. God used (and uses!) people to change the world. People! Not saints or superhumans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars--he uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, God makes up for in love.

Jesus later summarized God's stubborn love with a parable. He told about a teenager who decided that life at the farm was too slow for his tastes. So with pockets full of inheritance money, he set out to find the big time. What he found instead were hangovers, fair-weather friends, and long unemployment lines. When he had had just about as much of the pig's life as he could take, he swallowed his pride, dug his hands deep into his empty pockets, and began the long walk home; all the while rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his father.

He never used it. Just when he got to the top of the hill, his father, who'd been waiting at the gate, saw him. The boy's words of apology were quickly muffled by the father's words of forgiveness. And the boy's weary body fell into his father's opened arms.

The same open arms welcomed him that had welcomed Abraham, Moses, David, and Jonah. No wagging fingers. No clenched fists. No "I told you so!" slaps or "Where have you been?" interrogations. No crossed arms. No black eyes or fat lips. No. Only sweet, open arms. If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used and take heart. Look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.

And, by the way, never were those arms opened so wide as they were on the Roman cross. One arm extending back into history and the other reaching into the future. An embrace of forgiveness offered for anyone who'll come. A hen gathering her chicks. A father receiving his own. A redeemer redeeming the world.

No wonder they call him the Savior.