Devotional Rewind for Week Ending 5/28/16

This week I was still doing the "Our Daily Bread" devotional on the Bible app. I have to say, I have really enjoyed this one and I may look into getting this one for the future. Well done, Our Daily Bread!

Sunday 5/22/16
(Ephesians 3:14-4:3)
Do I have the right stuff to cling closer to God when the going gets tough? I think I do. Usually, when I’ve fallen away, it’s been when things were easy. But would I be able to face devastation and not blame God? I would like to think so, but this is one of those things that I’d still rather not have to find out.
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.                          - Ephesians 3:19

Monday 5/23/16
(Acts 17:24-31)
God wants us to find Him, but He wants us to put forth the effort. We always appreciate a thing more when we’ve had to struggle to get it, why wouldn’t our relationship with God be the same way? It’s not easy, but if it were we probably wouldn’t care about it all that much. So make yourself a king and search Him out (Proverbs 25:2).
so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…                -Acts 17:27

Tuesday 5/24/16
(Psalms 42)
Brokenness and anguish can come to us all. The best way to get through it is to give it to God. Don’t let your sorrow control you; let God have it. He will be your hope.
Deep is calling to deep
at the thunder of your waterfalls.
All your breakers and your waves
Have passed over me.
(Psalm 42:7)

Wednesday 5/25/16
(Isaiah 1:11-18)
Things go wrong. It happens all the time. Nothing gets fixed by focusing on what’s going wrong, we need to focus on how to fix it. What is right? Dwelling on the negative doesn’t breed the positive.
“Come now, and let us ague,” says Yahweh.
“Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow;
even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Thursday 5/26/16
(1 Corinthians 15:42-49)
We must always keep in mind that the terrible situation we’re in, the lowly life we’re living, or the poor house that we’re living in are not who we are. God has given us a situation which best promotes our growth. Our job is just to take each opportunity or growth we find.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
– 1 Corinthians 15:43

Friday 5/27/16
(Ephesians 1:15-23)
Very often we rely solely on our own power to accomplish things. When we can’t quite make it, we push even harder with our own strength. Why do we not ask God for help? I once read a quote that said something along the lines of this, “if we really believed that prayer worked, we would do it a lot more often.” This is so true, to me. I get convicted when I think about this. The Most High God of the universe has said that He wants to help me, and yet I consistently try to do everything on my own. Do I really believe that He means what He says?
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty strength which He has worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
-Ephesians 1:19-20

Saturday 5/28/16
(Matthew 15:21-28)
Don’t be scared to make a fool out of yourself for Jesus. Afterall, you’re really only a fool if you don’t go all in for Jesus. In today’s society we’ve made it so easy to rely on ourselves and technology; what if we actually allowed ourselves to be reliant on Jesus? What would you ask for if you weren’t encumbered by what is and isn’t possible?
So she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
-Matthew 15:27-28

Devotional Rewind for Week Ending 5/21/16

This past week was the third week of this current "Our Daily Bread" devotional plan. I've always seen the Our Daily Bread devotionals around and I'm really enjoying this one. I may look into these in the future.

Sunday 5/15/16
(John 16:5-16)
Much like yesterday, we’re dealing with God being the answer to our handicap. Just like a blind person accepting a seeing eye dog, and accepting that they need someone who has vision, the Holy Spirit can be our seeing eye dog, and lead us to the right paths, we just have to admit that we’re blind and that we need Him.
But when he – the Spirit of truth – comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hear He will speak, and He will proclaim to you the things to come.
- John 15:13

Monday 5/16/16
(1 Chronicles 22)
When we do things, sometimes we can get away with running at 90%. But we should always be doing everything as if we were doing these thing for God, and God always knows when we’re not giving 100%. This is really convicting for me because there are definitely times where I think, “that’s good enough.” But the truth is that there’s more that I could do. And the truth is that God can see my accepting a subpar performance from myself and others (Col 3:23).
Then you will prosper if you take care to do the statutes and judgments which Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and be courageous; fear not and do not be dismayed.   -1 Chron 22:13

Tuesday 5/17/16
(Psalms 130)
Forgiveness is powerful and it takes a powerful person to forgive. With so much sin in the hearts and minds of most people, how powerful must God be to have forgiven us, if we just accept His forgiveness? Do we have the proper fear of the Lord, or do we see His forgiveness as weakness? I’m asking this honestly. Oftentimes we view forgiveness as weakness. Search your heart and make sure you’re not looking at it this way because, if you are, you may be viewing it as weakness for God, too.
If you, O Yah, should keep track of iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.     -Psalms 130:3-4

Wednesday 5/18/16
(John 10:14-30)
The Bible tells us that we are like sheep, but how much like sheep are we? Do we follow the sheep around us or do we listen patiently for our Shepherd’s voice? How well do we know our Shepherd’s voice? Have we spent time listening to it so that, in times of trouble, we know instantly which is the voice of the Shepherd and which is the voice of the wolf?
I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.                         -John 10:14-15

Thursday 5/19/16
(Matthew 6:9-13)
Sometimes I’m struck by how uninspired my prayer life is, compared to what it should be. How often do I even say a prayer of thanksgiving for the food that I eat? Growing up we said a prayer before every meal but as I’ve gotten older this practice has gone away. Is it that I now work for my money and the food that it buys so I am not thankful for the food I have because I feel that I’ve earned it? I want to make a concerted effort to give thanks for my food over the coming days.
Give us today our daily bread                      -Matthew 6:11

Friday 5/20/16
(Joshua 2:1-14)
In Jericho, Rahab was in awe of the great power of Yahweh because of the stories of His greatness that she had heard. And because of that God was able to win a victory over one of the most fortified cities in the Levant. Have you told any stories of God’s greatness today? You just may be the person who helps break down a wall in a person’s world.
For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, who you utterly destroyed, We heard this, and our hearts melted, and no courage was left in anyone because of your presence. For Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and the earth below.
- Joshua 2:10-11

Saturday 5/21/16
(Luke 23:32-43)
How much do we believe in Jesus? Are we willing to die with Him? The truth is that as soon as we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we were supposed to let our self die and live from that moment forward as a new creation, created by the only one who has every created new creations (Galatians 2:20).
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Devotional Rewind For Week Ending 5/14/16

Our Daily Bread

Sunday 5/8/16
(1 Peter 1:3-12)
Something that, for some reason, we take for granted, the angels in heaven look at in amazement and wonder at how it was done. We had the problem of sin, but God destroyed it and allowed us access into His presence by the sacrifice of Jesus. The angels are still marveling at this but how many of us even think about it once per day? I know I’m guilty of accepting it as a given, but it wasn’t as easy as we oftentimes make it out to be. God, Himself, had to come down and live with us (in the middle of all of our dirt and grime). That alone is almost impossible to comprehend. The same God of the Old Testament who you weren’t even allowed to wear sandals around because the ground was so holy, put on His own sandals and accepted us, and loved us to death. And that’s only part of it. How much do we think about that?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His Great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you.  -Peter 1:3-4

Monday 5/9/16
(Deuteronomy 28:58-63)
When studying the Word of God we need to be sure that we’re paying attention to the context, not just the words on the page. We oftentimes try to pull out a sentence in the middle of a paragraph, redress it as something totally different, and then pass it off as the thing it was before. Remember, we didn’t write the Bible, God did. So don’t rewrite it for Him. I’m including an example of how some have done this in the verse below. The portion in bold is sometimes the only portion of the verse quoted. When you see the entire verse it has an entirely differently meaning.
Just as the LORD has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the LORD will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy. 
-Deut 28:63

Tuesday 5/10/16
(Galatians 6:11-18)
How serious are we about Jesus? Paul was willing to love Jesus, and teach the meaning of the crucifixion of Messiah, even if he was killed for doing it. Do we love Jesus like that? Or are we so caught up in trying to be accepting to the world (even if the reason we want to be accepted is so that we make Christianity look “better”) that we give away some of the meaning of His death on the cross? Sadly, too often we water down the message in order to make it more palatable and less offensive. But the truth is that message of Jesus, while loving, is offensively not accepting of sin.
But as for me, may it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  -Galatians 6:14

Wednesday 5/11/16
(Philemon 1:8-19)
God is able to do such great works in us. So often we think that we’re too flawed to be able to accomplish anything. Or, at least, we’re too flawed in a certain area. Those are the areas that God is going to use us in (2 Cor 12:9-11).
Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful to you and to me              -Philemon 1:12

Thursday 5/12/16
(Philippians 4:10-19)
We don’t wake up on our first day of being a Christian and have it all down. The common analogy is that this is a race that we run, but it’s more than that. We will have races throughout our life but the races are few and far between; the truth is that each day is a practice for the race and we are just conditioning ourselves to be able to run the race without growing weary.
In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to have an abundance and to go without. I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me.
- Philippians 4:12-13

Friday 5/13/16
(Luke 6:41-45)
It's so easy to see the failings of somebody else, but how often do we seek out our own failings? Even when a person is hypercritical of themselves they rarely are critical and want to fix what’s wrong with themselves. We need to be able to look inward and see what we’re doing wrong. We need to be able to assess ourselves and move to fix it.
The good person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heat his mouth speaks.  -Luke 6:45

Saturday 5/14/16
(Psalms 141)
The Bible is kind of like our corrective lenses. I wear glasses and I can’t really see without them. When I take my glasses off the world looks blurry. When I view the world through a Biblical worldview, it all comes into focus a lot more. The Bible is the coke bottle lenses we need to make sense of it all.
Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips   - Psalm 141:3