Daily Devotional

Scripture Psalms 3:3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

Observation: With God as my shield why am I still afraid. God has always been there for me and even if I should die, I would be home with my God, so what is it about this place that gives me fear. I allow the enemy to have his way with my mind. God is my shield, my strength and courage, however if I’m not focused on Him, but what my enemy puts before me I forget about God’s protection. God has always been there even before I became born again and when I think of Him and meditate on His word, I’m at peace. Unfortunately, I don’t stay focused on my God, but on me and what might happen without God’s protection. I fear because I chose to, God has given me a way out but I disregard His shield and go out to battle without any weapons or protection.

Application: God needs to be on my mind always and in my heart. As soon as I feel anxious at all I need to stop and pray and think of all that He has already gotten me through. I need to left Him up in my times of fear and ask Him what I should do. I need to trust in my God with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding but in all my ways acknowledge Him and He will make my paths straight. God and not fear needs to rule my life.

Prayer: My Lord, my strength, my reason for living, please take charge and lead me each day. Protect me from the sinful nature I have and calm my spirit as I go out to battle each day. Continue to give me hope and a reason to live each day. Show me how to please you for you deserve the best I can give. I love you, please draw me near to you.

Scripture Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,

Observation: When you look at this world today, boy is this scripture true. Every country it’s seems is against God. We can’t pray in school anymore, a day doesn’t go by that some atheist group isn’t trying to take down a cross or Christian symbol, Christmas can’t be used in so many venues now and blasphemy is more prevalent than worship. The devil has done a great job using our rulers against God and turning His people either away or sitting idly by. Our country that was founded by Christian influence now is teaching our children lies and drawing farther away from our Lord and closer to Hell.

Application: I need to fight for my Lord and not to stray from the path that He has placed me on. I need to lead others back to Him and be an example of God’s faithfulness, love and grace. I need to ask my Lord what He wants of me and that I will do whatever He commands me to do. I need to be a better example of a loving Christian and not be swayed by others, but to stand firm in God’s word no matter what.

Prayer: My Lord come dear Jesus come and rid this place of all the evil we have placed in it. Until then please use your servants, give us courage, wisdom and strength to fight for you. To help overcome the evil rulers of this world and draw others close to the true King. May you once again reign in this world or the new one you will create. May we be faithful until your return.

Scripture Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Observation: to lead a Godly life you will have to meditate on God’s word day and night. The world is so full of noise and distraction, if you are not grounded in God’s word the world will take over quickly. Everything that comes your way each day must be measured by God’s law, is this right or wrong, will this honor God or betray Him. Betray Him might sound drastic, but it is exactly what we do when we stop thinking of God’s commands and start to listen to the world around us. To make it through each day I need to focus on my Lord and I can’t do it completely, I have my moments, but mush too often I catch myself thinking sinfully about someone or something. The only way to avoid this temptation is to meditate on God and His commands and desires.

Application: I start my day in prayer, but even then, I get distracted and my mind wanders. I need to try harder to stay with my Lord and meditate on His commands, not just read them each day but place them in my heart for safe keeping. If I can get God to be my main focus and drown out any other distractions and enjoy Him, I can make it. I need to delight myself in Him not drive myself crazy because I have a hard time staying focused, but when I’m with Him to enjoy that time I get to spend with Him.

Prayer: My Lord I want to delight in you, but my mind wanders all of the time. Show me how to pray to you in a way that will draw me closer to you. May I enjoy each moment with you and fill my mind and heart with you and you alone. I want people to see you in my life, but I need to know you and your commands better. Help me draw close to you and that you will also enjoy the time we get to spend together.

Scripture Job 42:7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

Observation: All through Job they talked about what Job most have done to have God’s wrath against him and Job kept defending himself to his friends. No one spoke of how righteous God is. Nobody said that God is good and there must be a purpose in what was happening and that they should trust in that. God was only mentioned by Job when it came to his suffering and he had no idea why God would do such a thing. The same is with us we will go through a period of trials and be so focused on the mess we were in that we didn’t look at God, knowing that He loves and cares for us and that there must be a reason we are going through this time. We forget that our home is not here, but we have an eternal home and that we earn rewards and a lot of those rewards will come from the way we trust God in our hardships.

Application: I need to be focusing on God and to trust Him always no matter what might be going on in my life. I don’t do very good with that since my work contract was up in the air all I thought about what was I going to do about it, instead of looking to God and ask Him what He wanted me to do during this process. God has always been there for me and when I look back I can see Him throughout my life. I need to draw closer to Him and meditate on His word and His desires for this life. I want to know God better and what He expects of me and do it in glory and honor to Him.

Prayer: My Lord show me how to stay focused on you. My mind wanders continually and I have a hard time staying focused. Give me a peace of mind that will help me seek you with all of my heart, mind and soul. Show me how to love you the way you desire me to. Draw me close to you and open my eyes.

Scripture Job 41:11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

Observation: There is nothing we can give God, He owns it all. Everything we see He has created. The only thing He desires is our obedience and love. God has allowed us to give it out of our own will, He has given us a choice. He could have just as easily made us robots making love and obedience the only thing that we could do, but He didn’t want that He wants us to love Him unconditionally and to obey His commands out of love for Him. It would seem to be an easy decision whether to freely give our Lord what he desires, but we are still fighting these sinful and prideful desires we have. God owns everything and that includes us, there is no dealing or trading with God we either love Him or we don’t. It’s our choice.

Application: I need to stop putting things ahead of God. My attitude, my desires, my actions and words need to honor my Lord. I want to draw closer to my God and become a trusted friend to Him as he is to me. I’m tired of letting Him down all the time I need to be trustworthy each day with my number one thought always being about Him. My Master can’t take a backseat to what I do, He needs to be in the driver’s seat directing me.

Prayer: My Lord I know a day doesn’t go by that I go astray and get off the path. Why is it so hard for me to stay focused on You. I need your help, please take charge I freely give you this life, take it so that it will glorify you. I love you and can’t wait to spend forever with you. May my homecoming bring a smile to your face, because I led a life pleasing to you.

Scripture Job 40:2 “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”

Observation: How many times have we questioned God? I know it’s more than I want to admit. When things don’t go the way I plan I think what was God thinking? Our lives can be full of disappointments and trouble, but when I look back, they were caused by me and God had to get me out of the mess I made. We have no right to get into a discussion with God and our viewpoint, we are here to obey and listen. God hears us and what we should want him to hear is worship and not complaining.

Application: Today I received the news that the contract where I work was renewed. I’ve been worried about it for a couple of months now, asking God if it is his will that He would work it out that I could stay, but if not to open my eyes to His will. Great sentiment, but if I truly trusted Him, I wouldn’t have to say it each day, I’m sure He heard me the first time. I have no right to ask God for anything, even though He allows me to enter the throne room with my requests. My purpose is to bring Him pleasure and an obedient and trusting spirit would do that.

Prayer: My Lord thank you for allowing me to come before you. Help me spend more time listening to you and less telling you what I would like. Give me the wisdom to do and say the things that would please you and fill me with the Holy Spirit and allow me to hear you and obey you. I love you and my only desire is to please you.

Scripture Job 39:19 “Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder?

Observation: God is on a roll He goes through all that He has done and asks if Job has done it. If there was a hole to crawl in Job would be in it, unfortunately there is no place to hide from God. We are no better than Job, we are not responsible for anything on this earth. Even scientific discoveries are allowed by God, but we have created nothing new. Everything man has created comes from the raw materials that God supplied. We can’t answer back to God, we can’t complain against God it is futile. Instead of trying to battle against God we need to surrender and fall at His feet and ask Him what He desires of us. We shouldn’t be on the other side of God we need to be on His side.

Application: I was reading “The Purpose Driven Live” today and it talked about surrender to God, one of the main things we need to do to understand our purpose in this life. It hit my heart that this is what I need to do, completely surrender to my Lord. If I call him Lord I have no other option, but to obey Him and do what He calls me to do, otherwise He isn’t Lord. I need to surrender my finances, my time, my desires and my will and replace it with His. I want to be a prisoner of His love, mercy and grace and be controlled totally by my Master. I’ve messed up my life enough and I need to give control to my creator.

Prayer: Dear Lord please show me how to completely surrender all. I want to give this life as a living sacrifice, but it seems each day I take it back and try to do things on my own. You deserve my best and guide me to hear your voice for direction each day. You know my heart and you know this sinner, change me to honor and glorify your name. I love you and want to honor you my Lord, show me how.