Dwelling in the Shadow of the Most High God

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

There is nothing on this earth that can conquer us.  What are these things that we struggle with?  Shall our troubles overcome us?  Shall our worries distress us?  Shall our hunger stop us?  Shall our worn clothing deter us?  Shall our enemies harm us?  Shall evil make us fear?  Shall those who persecute us take away our faith?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us.

For no matter what we lose on this earth, no one can separate us from the love of Christ.  His love is so powerful that as all the things of the earth are removed from us, our faith and our joy are often increased.  His victory over all evil is so certain that we share in His conquest.  Satan and his emissaries are doomed to weariness and defeat for the Blood of the Lamb conquers all.  The victory is ours.

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to dwell in Your shadow where we are protected from all that might come against us.  We thank You for providing Your angels to guard us.  We praise the name of Jesus for the victory over all evil that He secured for us on the Cross.  We pray that You teach us how to make You our dwelling place.  We pray for the wisdom to trust in You in accordance with Your promises.  We rejoice in knowing that the victory is ours.

Standing in the Light

Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

Sin is our nature.  It never leaves our flesh.  We must always be alert to its lurking in our lives.  We must be keenly aware that Satan stands ready to exploit the power of sin in our lives at a moment's notice.

Our only refuge from sin is Jesus Christ.  We must constantly renew ourselves through the power of His Holy Spirit within us.  We must seek and allow for His strength to overcome our weakness.  If we ever consider ourselves adequate for the battle, we will surely fall to our sinful nature.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing a way for us to be freed from our sinful natures.  We thank You, Jesus, for giving us victory over sin through Your shed blood and death on the Cross.  We thank You, Holy Spirit, for standing with us and strengthening us to overcome the sin in our lives.  We pray that we will come to the humble place where we recognize that we are incapable of victory over sin without the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that one day we will stand in the light for all eternity and darkness will never again touch us.  All praise and glory be Yours, Father.  

Standing On Watch Against Sin

Mark 14:34

And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

Through Jesus, we receive the exchanged life of joy for the old life of sin and its miserable consequences.  Jesus paid a great price for our redemption.  He suffered physically, mentally and emotionally to go to the Cross for us.  He knew in advance the bodily torments, the agonizing death and the inconceivable burden of the weight of the sins of all men that He would suffer.  To secure our redemption, He chose the only path that fulfilled God's plan for our salvation.

Ultimately, we must choose to take up the Cross of Jesus Christ.  We must die to sin.  If we choose the way of Jesus Christ, God's life lives in us and sin dies.  If choose the way of sin, then God's life cannot live in us.  This is an impossible decision for our flesh to make on its own.  We must recognize that the power that we receive to overcome sin comes from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit prepares our hearts to receive Our Savior.  Once we accept Jesus, then the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  The Holy Spirit remains on watch with us as we struggle with our sorrows and our sins.

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  We praise the name of Jesus who chose to take all the sorrow and grief that He endured on our behalf.  We thank You for the Holy Spirit who guided us in choosing to accept Jesus as Our Savior, so that we might overcome the sin in our lives that separates us from You.  We pray for wisdom to always seek the strength and the counsel available to us through the Holy Spirit that stands on watch against sin with us.

Judging Others

Matthew 7:2

For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

We can be certain that if we have very judgmental natures that we have much to be concerned about in our own lives.  We must be careful not to look upon those around us in judgement.  We must avoid seeking to see the stains of sin in the lives of others so that we might judge them.  

Instead, we must look for the blood of Jesus to cover them so that they may be without the stain of sin before the Father.  As we seek to find Jesus in every relationship, the judgmental nature will leave us.  Our judgmental spirits will be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb that we seek for others.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that our sins have been forgiven and washed away by the sacrificial blood of Your Son.  We praise You for the mercy that You have extended to us through Your Son.  We pray that You will shield us from the desire to judge others when You have kept judgment for Yourself.  May we not seek to find sin in the lives of others, but only seek to help others find the forgiveness that is in the name of Jesus.  May we all be judged through the marvelous atonement of Jesus Christ.

Taking Our Place in the Royal Priesthood

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once we received our salvation, we were called out of the darkness offered by the world.  We were placed into the living light of Jesus Christ.  We were called to become priests to spread His light to the world around us.  We were called to intercede on the behalf of others so that they may be taken out of the darkness into the light.

In Numbers, we read that the Lord instructed Moses to have the priests, Aaron and his sons, to bless the people in the following way:  "May the Lord bless you and protect you.  May the Lord smile upon you.  May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace."

These are the blessings that we should desire for those around us when we have accepted our calling into the royal priesthood.  As we abide in Jesus, these are the blessings that we should take before the Lord without stopping in intercession for those around us that are in need.  We should prayerfully seek nothing but the best of what God has to offer for all of the people in our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us out of the darkness of the world and making us part of Your royal priesthood.  We praise the name of Jesus, the Light of the World, who guides us in our priestly duties.  May we learn to bless the people in our lives through our prayers and through our living testimony.   

Overcoming Our Battles

Job 42:10

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

The Bible records that Job was blameless and upright.  He had a great family and much wealth.  It was written that he was the greatest of all the people in the east.  And then it all changed.  God allowed Satan to take it all away from Job.

From this point on in the story of Job's life, we see Job in his anguish.  He not only has lost everything, but he is mocked by his friends and even his wife tells him, "Why don't you curse God and die."  Job assumes that God is persecuting him and hiding from him.  He lashes out at God in pain. 

No one goes through life without hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But still it can feel almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what's seems so unfair at times.  Like Job, our relief will come when we turn our focus away from our pain and on to the wondrous majesty and mercy of Our Creator.  When we do this, our concern will be more for others than for ourselves.  At this point, we will receive all that the Lord has prepared for us.

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we lift Your name above all names.  There is no name above Yours.  You are Our Creator and Our Sustainer.  You have given us life and granted us eternal life through Your Son.  We give thanks for the unmerited grace that You pour upon us.  We pray Lord that You strengthen us for the battles that we face in life.  We ask for the divine inspiration to keep our focus on You always. May our days be spent in service to You, free of any anguish that the world tries to bring us.