Category: Devotionals

When we are feeling discouraged or going through a difficult time, the best thing we can do is turn to God and His Word. Within the 66 books that make up the Bible, God has placed many words of encouragement and comfort, words that can help us through times of discouragement and distress. The Bible is filled with many stories of God’s people facing trials and tribulations, dealing with discouragement and distress. In many cases, the words spoken or actions taken by those people can be a source of great encouragement for us as we read how they dealt with their difficulties.

One of the best places to look in the Bible when you are feeling discouraged or distressed is the book of Psalms. Within the 150 psalms contained in that book are more than sixty psalms that are considered lament psalms. Lament psalms make up the largest group of psalms in the entire book. In a lament psalm, we hear the writer crying out to God, telling God what he is dealing with and expressing deep feelings to God. One example of a lament psalm is Psalm 54, which David wrote at a time when the Ziphites had betrayed him to Saul, who was looking for David in order to kill him.

Psalm 54, like all lament psalms, illustrates a pattern that we can follow in our own times of distress and discouragement. In those times, we need to cry out to God for help. David does exactly that, asking God to save him and to hear his prayer (Psalm 54:1-2). The next thing that David does is tell God what the problem is. He tells God that his enemies are attacking and trying to kill him, then points out to God that these are enemies who have no regard for God (Psalm 54:3).

When we are crying out to God, we need to tell Him what we are dealing with and how it makes us feel. God wants to hear these things from us. He wants us to talk to Him about what is troubling us and the feelings we have. But we also need to tell God that, despite our difficulties, our confidence in Him has not been shaken. David does this when he states that God is his help and is the one who sustains him (Psalm 54:4).

Once he had expressed his feelings and stated his confidence in God, David asked God to deal with his enemies (Psalm 54:5). When we have talked to God about our problems and our feelings and have expressed our confidence in Him, we should present our request to Him. We need to tell Him what we are seeking from Him. God’s desire is to help His people. When we cry out to God, expressing our deep feelings and asking for His help in our situation, God hears our prayers and He will give us the peace we need while we wait for His answer.

In the last part of a lament psalm, the writer often promises God that, when he receives the answer to his prayers, He will offer God a sacrifice of praise and will testify of God’s faithfulness. David does that in the last two verses of Psalm 54 (Psalm 54:6-7). While our cry to God for help should never be “let’s make a deal,” when we receive an answer to our prayers it is good to give Him praise and testify of God’s faithfulness to others. We should praise God at all times because He is worthy of our praise but, when we see His faithfulness and His grace and mercy in our lives, we should overflow with praise.

Have you ever been in the desert? I don’t mean a physical place like the Mojave or the Sahara. The desert I am referring to here is that place of dryness where your focus is on all the wrong things. It’s a place where you let life’s problems consume you and lead you to frustration, a place where you feel dry and far away from God. It’s a place that all of us have been to at some point in our lives.

When you find yourself in the desert, problems appear to be around every corner. Your problems seem insurmountable. You feel lost, parched, and tired. Nothing in your life seems right and it can affect even your closest relationships. You may even feel like God has abandoned you. The interesting thing about the desert is that it is usually a place of self-imposed exile. You end up in the desert when you take your focus off God or keep Him at arm’s distance. When you move away from God, your hunger and thirst increase and nothing seems to be able to satisfy them. But, there is a way out of the desert.

In Psalm 42:1-5, the psalmist compares himself to a deer, saying that as the deer pants for water, so his soul pants for God. When you are in the desert, when you are panting for water to satisfy that thirst that seems unquenchable, it is God that you are looking for. In that place of dryness, it is the living God that your soul is thirsting for. To get out of the desert, you must remember that it is God who is able to satisfy your thirst. Remember what it was like when, instead of keeping Him at arm’s distance, you sought His presence and gave Him praise. When your soul is downcast, you need to put your hope in God, seek Him, and give Him praise.

When you seek God with all your heart, when you seek His face earnestly, He will hear your voice and answer you (Psalm 27:7-8). When you seek God with all your heart and all your soul, you will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). And when you find Him and put your focus back on Him, you will no longer find yourself in that desert place because He will turn the desert into pools of water (Psalm 107:35). The water that comes from God is living water that is able to quench your thirst as nothing else can.

One of the most important organs in the human body is the heart. The heart pumps life-giving blood to the entire body and, if it stops, the result is often death. There is no doubt that a healthy heart is important to each and every one of us. The Bible speaks of another heart that is equally important. This heart is a spiritual heart. It is the center of our human will, mind, emotion, and spirit. The Hebrew word lēb in the Old Testament, and the Greek word kardia in the New Testament both refer to the heart as the inner person or being that guides our motivation and moral conscience. This heart controls our thoughts, our emotions, and even our tongue (Matthew 15:18).

We all know that it is important to care for our physical hearts. We need to protect them and keep them healthy by doing things such as eating right and exercising. When we do we can live fairly confident in our overall physical health. As the center of our inner being and our passions, our spiritual hearts must be cared for, as well. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that we need to guard our hearts because everything that we do flows from them. Just as we need to keep our physical hearts healthy, we also need to take care of our spiritual hearts and keep them healthy. An unhealthy spiritual heart will condemn us and we will not feel at rest in the presence of God. But a healthy heart will not condemn us and we will have confidence before God (1 John 3:19-21).

The life we live, or more specifically, the way in which we live it, is a good reflection of the health of our spiritual hearts (Proverbs 27:19). When our spiritual hearts are healthy, we live in a manner that is pleasing to God and those around us will see the fruit of a godly life in us. But, when our spiritual hearts are unhealthy, it can reflect in our lives through thoughts and actions such as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander (Matthew 15:18-19), things that keep us far from God. On the other hand, a healthy spiritual heart leads to justification through faith and, when we profess that faith with our mouths, salvation (Romans 10:10).

When our physical hearts are not healthy, there are things we can do to help change that. We can choose to eat a healthier diet, we can lose weight, and we can exercise. The health of our physical hearts, in most cases, is in our own hands. But, when our spiritual hearts are not healthy, we need God’s help to change it. We need to turn our hearts over to Him and allow Him to perform “open-heart surgery.” We can start by asking God to create pure hearts, healthy hearts, in us, just as David did in Psalm 51:10. With healthy spiritual hearts, we are better able to serve God and to love Him with all our hearts (Mark 12:30).

The Bible tells us that faith means being confident in the things that we hope for. It means living with an assurance about the things that we are not able to see (Hebrews 11:1). John 3:16 tells us that God loves us so much that He gave His only Son in order to secure eternal life for us. Although we can’t see God, if we have faith, we can be confident in that promise. When we believe in that promise of salvation that God provides for all who believe in and follow Christ, we can persevere through any trials we face in life.

None of us has seen God, but through faith we can be sure that He exists. None of us has seen Jesus, but through faith we can be sure that He was sent by God to atone for our sins. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, when we give our hearts and our lives to Him and believe that He gave His life for us, we are freed from the chains of sin with which we were bound. This faith in what we cannot see is possible because of the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us when we accept Christ as Savior.

Belief in what we have not seen comes with a blessing. Jesus tells us that when we put our trust in that which we can’t see and yet still believe, we are blessed (John 20:29). When we have faith in Jesus, despite the fact that we can’t physically see Him, that is precious to God. God rewards this kind of faith. His gift to those who have faith without seeing is a joy that is both glorious and inexpressible. That incredible joy comes from knowing that, in Christ, we receive the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).

When it comes to prayer, there is so much that we can learn through the Word of God. In both the Old and the New Testaments, there are many examples of the importance of prayer in the lives of God’s people. Abraham prayed, as did Moses, Samuel, and David. The apostles Peter and Paul prayed. Prayer is our means of connecting with God. It is our way of sharing with Him our thoughts, our needs, and our desires. It is our way of pouring out our hearts to Him and seeking His will in all areas of our lives. When have to make an important decision or are getting ready to start out on a new path set before us by God, we need to take the time to pray, to seek His strength and support.

Anyone who owns a car knows that, for that car to run efficiently, it needs regular maintenance. Before setting out on a long trip, we want to be sure that the car we are driving is ready and able to handle it. So, we take the car to a mechanic for a tuneup. When we need to make an important decision in our lives or we are about to begin a new job, start a new school, or step into a new ministry, we need to be sure that we are ready and able to handle it. We need a spiritual “tuneup.” In order to receive that “tuneup,” we need a spiritual “mechanic.” We need to go to our heavenly Father in prayer.

Of all of the Gospels, the Gospel of Luke provides the most emphasis on Jesus’ reliance on prayer. In Luke 5:16, Luke tells us that Jesus often went off on His own to seek His heavenly Father in prayer. Beginning in chapter 6 of Luke, we read that Jesus chose His twelve apostles (Luke 6:13-16) then delivered what was probably His greatest sermon (Luke 6:17-49). He then healed the servant of a centurion (Luke 7:1-10) and raised to life the son of a grieving widow (Luke 7:11-15). But, before He did all this, Jesus went for a spiritual “tuneup.” Luke 6:12 says that Jesus went out to a mountainside where he spent not just a few minutes or a few hours, but an entire night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12).

Jesus knew that He had an important decision to make regarding the choice of the men who would one day go out into the world to preach His good news. He knew that He would be preaching to the multitude and performing miracles of divine healing. He also knew that He need the strength and support of His heavenly Father to do all this. He needed a spiritual “tuneup” and so He spent the night seeking the face and the will of the Father. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed that, how much more do we?

In the late 1600’s, monks living at a hospice in the Great St. Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps acquired dogs to be used as watchdogs and companions. These dogs, descendants of the Asiatic dogs that had been brought over by the Romans, were the very large breed of dogs we now know as St. Bernards. Because of their keen sense of smell and their ability to find people who had become buried deep in snow, these dogs became famous for seeking and saving those who were lost. In fact, over a period of about 200 years, these heroic search and rescue dogs saved about 2,000 people, including lost children.

When sin entered the world because of man’s disobedience to God, mankind became God’s lost children. But God’s love for His children is so great that He put together His own plan for seeking and saving them. God’s search and rescue mission came through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, who was sent into this world to seek and to save all who are lost (Luke 19:10). Unlike the rescue mission of the dogs of the Great St. Bernard Pass, which ended in the early 1800’s Jesus’ rescue mission will go on until the end of the age when Jesus returns to rule on earth.

God’s desire is that not one of His children will remain lost. Each time that someone gives his or her life to Christ, each time one who was lost is found, God rejoices along with all of heaven (Luke 15:7,10). For this reason, Jesus commissioned all believers to be members of His search and rescue team (Matthew 28:18-19). Those of us who were lost and have been found are to spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world, so that others who are still lost will be found and brought back to the loving arms of our heavenly Father.

The world tells us that we should be “all in” regarding the things that we do in life. Whether at work or at play, we should give it everything we’ve got. We are told to work hard and play harder. I recently came across an ad by a sportswear manufacturer that says the more we love something, the harder we play. The mindset here is that when we truly love something, we give it our all. These principles should also apply to our spiritual life, our walk with the Lord. In fact, the Bible tells us that this is so.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the apostle Paul lists three things that we should do as believers. First, we should rejoice. The Greek word translated here as rejoice is chairōs, which means to be filled with joy. As followers of Christ, we have every reason to be filled with joy. Because Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we have been released from the bondage of sin, we have access to the presence of God, and we have eternal life. Paul says we should rejoice always. So, we should be joyful, not just when we feel like it, but always. Keep in mind that joy and happiness are two different things. Happiness is based on circumstances, where joy is not. No matter what is going on in our lives, good or bad, we should always be filled with joy because of what Christ has done for us. The word chairōs is also used in Matthew 18:13 to illustrate the joy that God experiences in the reconciliation of His children to Him through Christ. If that makes God rejoice, we should also rejoice.

The second thing that Paul says we should do is to pray. But he doesn’t say we should pray once a week, once a month, or once in a blue moon. He says we should pray continually or without ceasing. This doesn’t mean that we should be reciting some formal prayers 24/7. What it means is that we should look to talk to God everyday of our lives and as often as we can. Prayer should be part of our everyday lives. After all, prayer is conversation with God and we should want to be in conversation with Him frequently. When our hearts and our minds are truly focused on God, then this will come naturally.

The third thing Paul tells us we should do is to give thanks. The Greek word that translates as give thanks is eucharisteō, which also means to be thankful. In the context in which it is used, it specifically means giving thanks to God. This is the same word that is used when Jesus gave thanks to God at the Passover meal on the night before He died for us (Matthew 26:27; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:17). We have much to be thankful to God for. Without Him, nothing would exist. We owe everything to Him. We should be thankful for the incredible love that God has shown us by allowing His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin. Paul says that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. We should be thankful to God in happiness and in sorrow, in trials and in victories, in sickness and in health. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, the love that God showed in giving His only Son for us will never fade. And that is something we can always be thankful for.

Paul ends these verses by saying that we should do all these things–rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks–for one very important reason. It is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. God’s desire is for us to filled with joy, to talk to Him every day, and to be grateful, not just for all that He has done, but also for His love. God is our heavenly Father and, as His children, it should be our desire to be obedient to Him by doing His will.

In the 1950’s there was a popular song called “To Know Him is to Love Him.” That is so true! When a woman meets a man and they start dating, they don’t love each other immediately. It’s not “love at first sight” as Hollywood and romance novels often portray it. In order to love a person, we must first get to know him or her. We need to discover what that person is truly like, what makes him or her tick. Once we do, then we can determine if that person is someone that we can love.

Before we can say that we love God, we need to know Him first. But, how do we get to know God when we can’t physically see Him? One way to get to know God is through His creation. God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Everything that exists on earth was created by Him. So, when we look at the incredible beauty and variety in nature, it speaks of His glory and the amazing and creative work of His hands (Psalm 19:1). When we see the wonderful foods that His creation produces for us to eat, it speaks of a loving Father whose desire is to provide for His children. Creation clearly shows us God’s divine nature and His eternal power (Romans 1:20). It is impossible to look at all that He created and not know Him.

We can also get to know God by spending time with Him. When we are dating someone, we look to spend as much time together as we possibly can. We want to be in each other’s presence, so that we can get to know each other more intimately. We may also spend hours on end talking to each other. James 4:8 says that if we come near to God, if we spend time with Him, then He will spend time with us. When we are in His presence regularly, God reveals Himself to us. We learn that He is a faithful and loving God and, through the time we spend with Him, we experience His joy. And, when we talk to Him by spending time with Him in prayer, we learn that God is also a wonderful listener. He hears our prayers and He answers them (1 John 5:14-15).

One of the best, if not the best, ways of getting to know God is through His Word. By spending time in His Word, reading the Bible, God reveals Himself to us. We learn that He is a loving and faithful God. We discover that He is a merciful God who is full of compassion for His people. We also learn that He is righteous and just. All of Scripture is inspired by God with the intent of teaching us all that we need to know about Him and what we need to do to follow in His ways (2 Timothy 3:16). When we study His Word and follow His commands, then we can truly say that we know God. But, if we do not keep those commands, we cannot truthfully say that we know God (1 John 2:3-4).

When we take the time to appreciate God’s creation, when we spend time with God and talk to Him in prayer, and when we read His Word and follow it, then we will know God. And to know God is to love Him. When we love God, we will desire to worship Him with all that we have, with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

“Blessed are…”

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh beatitudes, Jesus addresses those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, and the peacemakers. These are certainly virtues that all believers should strive to possess. When we are merciful, we reflect Christ, who the writer of Hebrews says is a merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17). The Greek word translated as merciful in Matthew 5:7 is eleēmōn, which is the same word used in referring to Christ in Hebrews 2:17. This word can also be translated as kind or compassionate. These are qualities that Christ demonstrated throughout His ministry on earth, especially as He went about providing healing and forgiveness to those who appealed to Him for mercy. In the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35), Jesus taught us that those who receive mercy must also be merciful to others. When we are merciful, we are not only blessed, but we are also shown mercy by God.

In Matthew 5:8, Jesus says that those who are pure in heart are blessed. But, what does it mean to be pure in heart? The Greek word translated as pure in this verse is katharos, which also means clean or clear. In Psalm 51:10, David asked God to create in him a heart that is pure or clean. That should be our prayer as well. When we are pure in heart, we have been delivered from the power of sin through the grace of God. If we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and have turned from our sins, our hearts are cleansed by the blood of Christ. Having a pure heart also means that we now strive to glorify God in our lives and become more like Him. The pure in heart are blessed because, thanks to Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we will see God.

The seventh beatitude refers to those who are peacemakers. As followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace, we should strive to live in peace with others. But being peacemakers means more than that. A peacemaker is someone who has been reconciled to God, who lives in peace with Him through the cross of Christ. When Christ took our sins upon Himself, His death on the cross brought us reconciliation with God. Because we have been reconciled to God and now live in peace with God, we should strive to bring others into that same peace. We do this through the example of the way in which we live our lives, through our testimony, and by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. When we are peacemakers in this way, we are truly blessed because we are called God’s children.