Today's Reading:
Hosea 10,11,12; Psalms 73; Hebrews 4
I've added an extra section after my daily devotions. I call it "Personally Speaking" (or "PS" for short) where I share my personal thoughts on what's happening in the world and the Church.
Scripture
“Therefore remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God … let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest …” (Hebrews 4:9)
Observation
Some time ago, I watched the televised football game of our university’s final match. I had already known the outcome (who won) because the game was played during the day, and television rights were only for delayed broadcast, not live. But, still, I wanted to watch it unfold. Each play was still exciting and for nearly the whole last quarter, our team was down by three points. I knew the outcome and knew how they’d actually pulled it off.
I watched an exciting interception and cheered out loud, startling my cat that lay sleeping on the nearby couch. Then, play by play, the game unfolded till the final whistle.
The chill of victory was still there, but nothing of the anxiety. There was a rest not after, but in the midst of the activity.
Application
I know in the end, God wins. Now, I think that through sheer obedience, I can mess up my place in His plan. If I, too, want to share in His victory, I’d better stay on His team and operate by His plans. If I do, there is a rest for the people of God. It’s a rest that doesn’t necessarily take away the excitement, nor will it take away the pain, but it does take away the anxiety and wonder of whether or not this will all pan out. God will win and the only way I would forfeit this promise is by disobedience or defecting away from His team.
Hebrew 4:3 tells us that, “His works were finished from the foundation of the world.” This tells me that before God starts something, He’s already finished it. He saw the end from the beginning! He completed it fully, and because it was not yet the “fulness of time”, He took His finished product, crushed it into a little seed that was filled with all the potential He created, and when the time came, you and I were conceived and born. At conception, the Master’s full design was resident within us, in potential form. His plan was latent within us, and now, as we grow, with the Holy Sprit’s guidance, we get to assemble our lives and thoughts the way He instructs to. But all the potential of God’s design and success is already wired into each of us. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us of that as does Ephesians 2:10 — “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
So here’s my response … I choose to walk in obedience with His design for me, following His every command. Why? Simply because I want to be fruitful and become all He created me to be. And to add to that, I want to receive a “rest” — a “Sabbath” rest … no, not from my labors, but in my labors. I know that regardless of the score right now, regardless of how it seems currently, in the end, I’m on the winning team! Now, that’s enough to shout about!
Prayer
Father, thank You for reminding me about the importance of rest and leaving the game plan in Your hands! Right now, the world is in a pickle and our leaders have agendas that are not godly. We are entering the end times, but all this didn’t take You by surprise. I am being constantly reminded to get back to our original calling as the people of God because, in the end, everything will be burned up … except what was done for eternity’s sake. So I will focus on what will never be taken away.
“I now value all things only by the price it shall have in eternity.” (John Wesley)
It’s easy to get caught up in the fray of what’s going on around us, but I just can’t. It’s another distraction to lure me away from what God will hold me accountable for on that day. Yes, I must be knowledgeable about what’s going on. We are living in a bizarre age of power and fear-mongering. I must understand how this “shell game” works with the COVID counting and data skewing for ulterior, political purposes, and how one group masquerades as another (click here for an interesting “Prager-U” video that gives the background of the American two-party system). There are many plans and plots at hand, and we as Christians must “not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). Sometimes we can be the most gullible. But no more!
Be aware of the devil’s schemes … but not so that we can get wrapped up in them. Rather, it is that we will be firm in our course of action and trust in God! John 14:9, Jesus reminds us: “I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.”
Make no mistake about it. These are the beginnings of the end times, and we must be aware, equipped, prepared, and bold. Arm yourself with the Word of God on a daily basis and learn everything you can. Hosea 4:6 reminded us: “My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge.”
We have been forewarned, and now we will be fore-armed!
More resources like this...
A Tap Or A Wrecking Ball?
What does it take for God to get my attention? A tap or a wrecking ball? He doesn’t try to get our notice simply because He wants to bring us down. Instead, He wasn’t to bring us back to Himself and to the purpose for which He created us.
Consequences
When leaders disobey or when leaders are corrupt, people around them suffer the consequences. Since Jonah would not comply through internal corrections, He’s thrown overboard so he’ll comply through consequences.
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