‘And my God will meet all your needs…’ (Phil. 4:19)
What a comfort and joy for us to know the Lord is always there for us, no matter where we are or what we are doing, He is by our side looking out for us and will never leave us on our own.
‘God has given gifts to each of you…’ (1 Peter 4:10)
To all who claim the Lord as their Saviour, He will pour His Spirit upon them. With that outpouring God gives to us all gifts, gifts that can be used for our own personal edification as we seek to grow in our faith, but gifts also that we should used to share the Gospel with all people. Ask the Lord how you can best use the gift He has given you to bear witness to Him and glorify His name,
‘Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you…’ (Jer.29:12)
What a wonderful comfort to know – that the Lord will always listen to us when we come to Him. So why not take time now to come to Him and spend time with Him, giving thanks for all His goodness and love and sharing with Him all your concerns and prayers for others.
‘…encourage me by your word…’ (Psalm 119:28)
How often do we take time out of our busy lives to read and meditate on the Word of God – and how long do we spend doing so when we do? Today there are a multitude of Bible Study Notes and Daily Reflections for us to choose from, either in booklet form, on line or via an app – and of course even without any of these, there is nothing to stop us from taking our Bibles each day and spending some quiet time with God reflecting on His word. It’s important that we do so, not only to edify our own personal faith and to find this kind of encouragement that the Psalmist speaks of, but also because the more time we spend with the Lord in this way, the more it shows through in our everyday lives and the more we do this, the greater our witness to His name.
‘I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand…’ (Isaiah 41:10)
Following on for the words of the Psalmist yesterday we come to these wonderful words of reassurance from the prophet Isaiah. Take time now to read them slowly, over and over again, and then reflect on all those times when the Lord had strengthened you, when He has helped you and when He has upheld you. Praise be to God for His love for us.
‘The Lord is close to the broken hearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit…'( Psalm 34:18)
As we journey through life we all experience something of a rollercoaster of high points and low points, and sadly there are times when we are just broken hearted by certain events. The loss of a loved one, the break up of a marriage, the loss of our home or a breakdown of our relationship with others. These are only a few of the most traumatic times that any of us might face in life and when they do happen we do feel crushed in spirit and there seems little that anyone can say or do to help us or offer us the comfort and solace we yearn for at that time.
The Psalmist reminds us, however, that through all of this the Lord is always there with us and He will help us in a way that not even our closest loved ones can. Yes, there will still be pain in our hearts and souls, but knowing that the Lord is there to share that pain with us in a way that no other can will help us find the kind of peace that we need at that time and in His strength, day by day, one step at a time, we will once again be able to move forward in our life.
‘Since He Himself has gone through suffering and temptation, He is able to help us when we are being tempted…’ (Hebrews 2:18)
Every single day in life we are tempted in some way to turn away from the teaching of our Lord and to act in some way that we know to be in contradiction to the Gospel message. It doesn’t matter how faithful we believe we might be or how strong we believe our relationship with Christ to be – temptation will come to us and it will do so in many forms and guises. Sometimes this temptation will be obvious but at other times it will be subtle, so subtle in fact that we might not realise it at the time.
We can never stop temptation coming our way, however, as the author of Hebrews states here, if we look to the Lord, if we seek His strength and His guidance, and allow the Holy Spirit to move within us, we will be able to overcome so much. But even when we do succumb, as soon as we take it to the Lord and acknowledge our shortcoming, He will be there to uphold us and set us back on His path once again.
‘With my whole heart have I sought thee…’ (Psalm 119:10)
Whenever we undertake to do something that we feel passionate about, generally we will do al we can to ensure that we have a successful outcome. We will put our heart and soul into it. The question is, do we apply this same level of commitment to our relationship with the Lord? Do we put our heart and soul into our service in His name? At the end of each day can we honestly echo the words of the Psalmist here?
Pray to the Lord that He will give you the strength, the encouragement, the belief and the faith to seek Him with all of your heart.
‘Draw close to God and He will draw close to you…’ (James 4:8)
Read these few words over and over again and allow them to seep into your heart and soul. Then rejoice and give thanks to God that such is His love for us, He will never leave us.
‘Be filled with the Spirit…’ ( Ephesians 5:18)
How conscious are we of the Holy Spirit in our life? Are we aware of its presence and its guidance each day – do we actively seek it? Just how do we perceive the Holy Spirit working in our lives of faith?