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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-09-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Psalm 59:16-17 (TLB) |
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Text: |
16 But as for me, I will sing each morning about your power and mercy. For you have been my high tower of refuge, a place of safety in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, to you I sing my praises; for you are my high tower of safety, my God of mercy. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| David had a way of expressing himself about the relationship that he had with God, and how God answered his prayers in the very miraculous ways that only God could do! In these verses today David was acknowledging through praise, how God heard his prayers and protected him against Saul’s men that surrounded his home. Let’s look into the ways that we can apply this in our own lives…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| No doubt there have been times of desperation in our own lives where we have knelt before our Maker in desperation and prayed over very critical moments for a family member, or perhaps a parent, or even a friend. Often we can remember the growth and encouragement that came when our prayers were answered just like we asked of God. However, we tend to get our noses a little ‘out of joint’ when we tell God to do such and such, and He decides that there are alternate ways that He would prefer handling things. This might be a good reminder that the whole reason that we ask God, is that we know that there could be more than one outcome to a situation. For example, in David’s scenario, God could have left Saul’s men hidden for a longer period of time which would have allowed Him more time to work on David; He could have used these men, yes even the opposition, to take David out; or of course He could have stricken the enemies blind so that David could walk away unscathed. I believe that God will gladly listen to our personal desires, or wishes, in a scenario, but I also believe that when we ask that His perfect will be done, that we should strap ourselves in and prepare for the strong, all-knowing, mighty hand of God to be applied in our best interest, or that might bring praise to the Almighty. I believe that most Christians are good about asking, but we may be way too caught up in telling God how to answer our prayers. Additionally, we are way too quick to say that God didn’t, or won’t, answer our prayers, when in fact He answered in line with His perfect will for us. Friends, if we truly know God personally, and we are willing to take Him at His word, then we need to follow the words of an old hymn, ‘Just take it to the Lord, and leave it there’. The other challenging thing for us, is to be ready to obey Him and follow His perfect plan for us, no matter which way He answers. This type of obedience is probably one of the most challenging for mankind, because our tendency is to snarl our noses up when we may have to do something differently than what we asked for. I believe that we need to decide that if God is truly in control, it’s our responsibility to listen and obey Him, knowing that He has our best interest, and His glory, at the center of our heart. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Precious Savior, thank You for being patient with us as we learn from Your Word, and through our own personal experiences. You are a God who loves and cares for us, and who can be trusted with perfect decisions for us so that You may be glorified. Please help us to take our burdens, cares and concerns to the foot of the cross and leave them there. Please help us to be obedient, even when Your perfect response is different to our personal desires. Lord, may our faith increase everyday because of the awesome working of Your hand, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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! | |
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