Category: Devotional Reading

Meditating on God’s Word

Open up your mouth and call on the name of God! Hallelujah, glory to your name, God. I bless your high and holy name!

Thank you for being a present help in times of trouble. Thank you, Lord, for “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22 KJV)

Give me this day my daily bread. Furthermore, I pray that you will touch me anew to be receptive to your voice throughout this day. Have your way in my life, and I will be mindful to give you praise, glory, and honor. In the mighty and matchless name of Jesus, I pray and give thanks. Amen. 🙏🙏🙏

Sincerely,

Rev. Richard Edwards

Pray to Know God

Good morning, FB family and friends. This morning, I feel led to share a scripture that is spiritually enlightening and encouraging. Read it, meditate on it, and have a blessed day!

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength.” (Ephesians 1:17‭-‬19 NIV)

Biblical Note:

“Paul prayed for the believers to know God better. How do you get to know people? By reading biographical information or historical data about them? That will help you know a lot about them, but it won’t enable you to actually know them. If you want to get to know someone, you have to spend time with that person; there is no shortcut. The same holds true with God. Reading the Bible, great works of theology, and devotional material helps us as we get to know God, but these things don’t substitute for knowing God personally. What about you? Do you really know God, ordo you just know about Him? The difference is in spending time with Him. Personal experience with Christ will change your life. So, as you read and study about God (which is vitally important), make sure you also experience His presence in daily prayer. Talk to Him throughout the day, ask Him for wisdom, trust Him to act in your life, and watch for Him to do so. As you invite God into every moment of your life, you will better understand His great love for you, His care, His comfort, and His delight in you. Your relationship with Him will thrive and flourish.”

Insightful Excerpt

You can expect more than one divine test in your own faith journey, but God doesn’t use difficult circumstances to find out what we’ll do. He already knows us better than we know ourselves. He uses tests to reveal us to ourselves! He often uses a test to show us where we need improvement. A divine test usually exposes what might be called our default response to crisis. It starts as a self-preservation reflex. In time, we learn to respond to stress with expert agility without even thinking. And before we know it, we have a full-blown coping mechanism that takes over, keeping us from trusting in God.

CHARLES R. SWINDOLL

Perseverance

Persevering Christians take prayer seriously as a reflection of life. They recognize the way of love and forgiveness because they understand the nature of human weakness and divine help. They know they have experienced grace beyond their human capacities.

Persevering Christians recognize that the warnings of the Bible are meant for them to obey and that Christ gave His life to transform their lives. Perseverance is thus a call to faithfulness, but it is also an affirmation that somehow, in spite of our failures, God will bring His committed people through the difficulties and concerns of life to their promised destiny in Christ.

Gerald L. Borchert, “Perseverance,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1279.

Devotional Reading

When faith, hope, and love are vital powers in our lives, then no matter what difficulties may come, we’ll be able to thank our Father in heaven and bring glory to His name.

If you love somebody, you will not be afraid of him. The apostle John writes, “Perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18), and this is true. I cannot conceive of a child loving a parent and then being deathly afraid of that parent, unless, of course, there is some kind of emotional instability. This is why faith and love go together: when you love somebody, you trust him—you are not afraid of him.

This relationship applies to the Christian and the Lord. If we love our Father in heaven, then we will not be afraid of what He may permit to come to our lives. If He loves us, He cannot harm us. He may permit suffering and sorrow, but He can never permit His child to be harmed by the trials of life. God permitted Job to go through all kinds of trials, yet in the end, the trials were for Job’s good and God’s glory. Job suffered, but his suffering led to glory. Job wept, but his tears were turned to joy. You can be sure that your Father in heaven loves you, and therefore He can be trusted.

Insightful Reading

Here is the excerpt that I read in a live session yesterday. I recommend this book, it is a good read. Have a blessed day.

God’s care for His own is not an occasional thing; it is constant. God is not like a physician who comes to us only when there is trouble. He is constantly walking with us and watching over us. When we go through the fire, He is there, as He was with the three Hebrew children in Babylon. When we go through the waters, He is there, as He was with the disciples in that storm on Galilee. Yes, even when we go through the valley of the shadow of death, He will be with us! “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee!” is His promise, and that promise is sure.

The enemy wants us to think that God doesn’t care, or that God has forsaken us. When the going gets tough, the enemy says, “If God really loved you, this wouldn’t have happened.” How many times in pain or sorrow Satan has tried to cast doubts on the love and faithfulness of God. Somehow we have the idea that when life is easy, God is with us; but when life is hard, God has forsaken us—and just the opposite might be true. Too often when life is easy we forget God and start to depend on our own wisdom and strength. It is when the going is hard that we really know how close God is to His needy children. It has wisely been said, “Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light.” The Bible makes it clear that God cares for His own. God doesn’t promise us an easy path, but He does promise to help us and see us through. God won’t remove the stones from the path, but He will command His angels to make sure we don’t stumble over them. We are God’s children, and our loving heavenly Father will never abandon us to the enemy. Even if our faith wavers, God will remain faithful, and His Word will never change.