THE HOLY BIBLE (The Amplified Bible – 1 Peter 5:6-7): ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, ⁷ Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. [Ps. 55:22.]

 THOUGHTS: Peter had just appealed to church elders to take their jobs seriously and lovingly, not just for a paycheck. He then cautioned the younger leaders to be humble and obedient to their elders so that they might learn from them in obedience to God. He then immediately followed by assuring the leaders that no matter what they feel like their leadership responsibilities might be, they are to humble themselves under the overall power and might of God, for it is He who will one day exalt them before the Father in heaven. Friends, I believe that these two verses are also applicable to Christians in general, for who are we to lord ourselves over folk. Yes, we may have certain supervisory rights as part of our job responsibilities, but we are never to lord ourselves over folk and make them feel inferior to us. In fact, I have found where folk will respect you a whole lot more and be more obedient to you as their boss, if you treat them with humility and respect. Now, verse 7 goes on to cap this whole thing off by telling us that when the concerns of leadership, church leadership in particular, becomes overly burdensome, we are to take Jesus at His word, and cast those concerns at His feet, knowing full well that He has such love and affection for His children that He will wipe away the tears, ease the concerns and watch out for our eternal good. Don’t you feel comforted by that friend? We don’t have to wait until we have gotten to the end of our emotional, mental or physical ‘rope’ to then place our concerns before God, we can do it as soon as we feel concerned about something. I just love the remaining words of these two verses, for it reminds me that Jesus cares affectionately about me and He is watching out for me! What an honor! If you are not experiencing this kind of love and care today friend, then I would encourage you to reevaluate your relationship with the Master, for His Word is never wrong. He cares for His own affectionately! Surrender yourself wholeheartedly to Him today and enjoy the gracious and loving rewards of being His precious child!

 PRAYER: Thank You Father for the reassurance of Your love and concern for us. You are awesome beyond all measure and I thank You for caring so much about even me. Lord You are well aware of all the pressure and hurt that face our church leaders and also similar experiences by lay persons as we try to be good representatives of yours in our everyday life. Please continue to remind us of Your presence, guidance and love as we try to work through every circumstance of life. Most of all, I pray that You will help us to never lose sight of Your faithfulness and Your promises to never leave us alone, but always caring about us. We need You more today than ever before Lord, so we come before Your throne yet again in humility asking for Your ongoing love for us. Thank You Jesus for Your arms of affection and Your watchful eye on us. I bring these petitions before You in all humility and love today, in the wonderful and blessed name of Jesus, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!