Daily devotions...
A practice that I am striving to keep up with is daily devotions to the church and so I thought I would post some of them here - so this will have multiples and maybe I can keep up after this with dailies...
The Proverbs writer takes this from David who said in Psalm 18:30 and also in 2 Samuel 22:31,
"As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him."
I think the key here is the actual "taking refuge in" part. We know the Word of God but do we lean on it and practice it when it is hard to practice it?
God's word is saying that His word will protect us because it has been tested. We look for things in life that have been tested. "9 out of 10 dentists say..." and we buy the toothpaste based on that testing. God's word has been tested over time and it is our part to submit to His will and His ways and "buy in" to something that is tried and true.
Acts: 10:34, 35 says,
Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."Peter is speaking to Cornelius' household. Cornelius is a centurion, a military officer in charge of a hundred men and also a Gentile. This is someone that Peter wouldn't think about when presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. But something trumps his feelings and maybe his upbringing and it is God and who God is and the length of God's love that always extends past our own. Pulling out the meanings of the words in the Greek the last half of the verse could read "...but in every nation the man who reverences who God is and observes God's laws is walking hand in hand with God." I think the big point here is that God's eyes and heart are bigger than ours and we need to expand who God might have us reach out to with the message and love of Jesus.
Today's verse is Psalm 141:2, which says,
"May my prayer be counted as incense before You;The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering."
So lets just pull this apart:1. prayer - a spiritual discipline of speaking to God2. incense - all I can think about is like potpourri that fills the room3. lifting up of my hands - a sign of surrender and defenselessness (great way to define true worship of God)4. evening offering - last part of the day and something given
Some questions:
Am I in the practice of prayer that is pleasing to God?
Does it include adoration and praise and worship of who He is?
Am I coming to Him in surrender to His will or another way to look at it as reaching out to someone for help or love like a small child reaching out their hands to their father or mother to pick them up?
Am I bathing my day in prayer that even the last thing of the day is speaking to God?
Prayer can sometimes, very easily, become an add on to the meal or to a service or to a meeting or to your life. It can easily be done only in time of necessity and urgency and selfishly ("Lord bless me", "Lord give me", emphasis on "me").
Challenge yourself today to take some time to pray to God without your agenda or list and see what comes out of your mouth.
Proverbs 19:11 - "A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression."
It is interesting that the Hebrew word for anger here is described as the "flaring of the nostrils" - have you ever been there? Our self-control in the face of a transgression (a wrong) helps us to see the bigger picture.
2 Corinthians 10:17, 18 says,
"But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD. For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends."
The cross reference for this verse gives some more definition of this. It is Jeremiah 9:23, 24 which says,
Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.
There needs to be people who are wise and mighty and rich and a host of other things and use those resources but they need to be directed toward glorifying God and we do that by using them to serve others. Our focus on what God is like - loving kindness, justice, and righteousness - points us to follow suit to the God in which we are created in the image of.
The more we focus (boast) on Him, the more we will follow Him.
Adam
The verse today is Proverbs 30:5 which reads,
"Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."God's word is saying that His word will protect us because it has been tested. We look for things in life that have been tested. "9 out of 10 dentists say..." and we buy the toothpaste based on that testing. God's word has been tested over time and it is our part to submit to His will and His ways and "buy in" to something that is tried and true.
Acts: 10:34, 35 says,
Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."Peter is speaking to Cornelius' household. Cornelius is a centurion, a military officer in charge of a hundred men and also a Gentile. This is someone that Peter wouldn't think about when presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. But something trumps his feelings and maybe his upbringing and it is God and who God is and the length of God's love that always extends past our own. Pulling out the meanings of the words in the Greek the last half of the verse could read "...but in every nation the man who reverences who God is and observes God's laws is walking hand in hand with God." I think the big point here is that God's eyes and heart are bigger than ours and we need to expand who God might have us reach out to with the message and love of Jesus.
Today's verse is Psalm 141:2, which says,
"May my prayer be counted as incense before You;The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering."
So lets just pull this apart:1. prayer - a spiritual discipline of speaking to God2. incense - all I can think about is like potpourri that fills the room3. lifting up of my hands - a sign of surrender and defenselessness (great way to define true worship of God)4. evening offering - last part of the day and something given
Some questions:
Am I in the practice of prayer that is pleasing to God?
Does it include adoration and praise and worship of who He is?
Am I coming to Him in surrender to His will or another way to look at it as reaching out to someone for help or love like a small child reaching out their hands to their father or mother to pick them up?
Am I bathing my day in prayer that even the last thing of the day is speaking to God?
Prayer can sometimes, very easily, become an add on to the meal or to a service or to a meeting or to your life. It can easily be done only in time of necessity and urgency and selfishly ("Lord bless me", "Lord give me", emphasis on "me").
Challenge yourself today to take some time to pray to God without your agenda or list and see what comes out of your mouth.
Proverbs 19:11 - "A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression."
It is interesting that the Hebrew word for anger here is described as the "flaring of the nostrils" - have you ever been there? Our self-control in the face of a transgression (a wrong) helps us to see the bigger picture.
2 Corinthians 10:17, 18 says,
"But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD. For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends."
The cross reference for this verse gives some more definition of this. It is Jeremiah 9:23, 24 which says,
Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.
There needs to be people who are wise and mighty and rich and a host of other things and use those resources but they need to be directed toward glorifying God and we do that by using them to serve others. Our focus on what God is like - loving kindness, justice, and righteousness - points us to follow suit to the God in which we are created in the image of.
The more we focus (boast) on Him, the more we will follow Him.
Adam
Comments
Post a Comment