I have been talking a lot this week with people who are going through tough times as far as health goes. Almost to a person they all are questioning why these things are happening to them. The one good thing that has come out of this is that they all called on the man of God to ask their questions and not blame God for letting the illness happen. Continue reading and be blessed.
Today’s Prayer
Father, “we asked for health, that we might do greater things; we were given infirmity that we might do better things.” Sometimes it takes an infirmity to make us slow down enough to turn to You. When we are side-tracked, then we have the time to contemplate our life’s direction. Help us to see that our lives have too often been like driving in the fast lane. We have sped along without looking at a map, so caught up in our own thoughts and everyday demands that we haven’t had time to realize where we are headed. We wanted to do “greater things,” but now You have let infirmity force us to take time-out. Inspire us to use this time of recovery to see how we might serve You better. Help us to slow down and sort out the important from the merely self-serving. Show us how to make our lives more meaningful, that others may be encouraged to know You. Thank You for this lesson and for Your patience. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Psalm 51
Psalm 51:1-17 –
Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my shameful deeds— they haunt me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that I may praise you. You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it. The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.
Quote of the Day
All God’s revelations are sealed to us until they are opened to us by obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking. Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes. Let God’s truth work in you by soaking in it, not by worrying into it. Obey God in the thing He is at present showing you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. We read tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit when…five minutes of drastic obedience would make things clear as a sunbeam. We say, I suppose I shall understand these things some day. You can understand them now: it is not study that does it, but obedience. The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens up and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away. God will never reveal more truth about Himself till you obey what you know already. Beware of being wise and prudent. ~Oswald Chambers~