When Life Seems So Unfair

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. 

Once Job turned from his anger and turned instead to intercessory prayer, the mercies and blessings of Our Lord were released to him.  He found his prayer for others to be profitable for himself.  More importantly, he found that Satan had no more power over him.

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.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Our Service is Dictated by and Driven by Our Love of Jesus

1 Peter 5:2

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly--not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

When we were children, many of us joined our parents in the work that needed to be done around the house.  We joined them in obedience to their request for help.  If we served them because we loved them and wanted to honor them, our work was done eagerly and with joy.  If we served them for any other reason - to earn allowance or perhaps avoid punishment - our work probably became tedious quickly.

We may find a similar experience when we seek to serve humanity.  No matter how fulfilling the service may be at first, the humanitarian cause will become exhausting if the root of our service is not our love for Our Savior.  The secret of our joy in service will be our devotion to Jesus Christ.

Jesus was the perfect model of service.  Jesus was able to carry through on His service to mankind all the way to the end because He was driven by His love for His Father first.  Honoring His Father with His obedience was His calling. The service that He provided for mankind was the result of His love for His Father.

So let us serve the Lord willingly, even eagerly, in devotion for Our Savior King.  Through our labors of love we will receive a crown of unfading glory.  Our reward will be greater than any power, wealth or pleasure that the world has to offer.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing us to express our love to You through our service to those around us.  We pray that You strengthen us, Lord, for our work by helping us to grow in our relationship with Your Son.  May our devotion to Him be measured by the fruits of our work.  May all that we do to serve Your kingdom bring honor and glory to Your Holy Name, the name of Your Son, Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Servant King and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Keeping Sight of Who We Live For

Matthew 14:30

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

When Peter first stepped out of the boat, all He saw was Jesus.  He saw nothing but the one he desired to be with.  His focus was on His Lord and His Lord alone.  With His focus only on His Lord, he walked on water.  But then Peter let his focus shift to his surroundings and down he went.

It is a bit difficult for us to relate to walking on water, but we can all relate to finding ourselves in a place in life where we feel like we are sinking.  In these times, we are weak in faith and our doubts are overwhelming us. 

Too often we get to this place because we are seeking a way out through our own strengths.  Our focus is on our problems and not on the promises of Our Savior.  Peter was rebuked for his lack of faith.  We should know that we share in Peter's weakness.  There is no valid reason why the disciples of Jesus Christ should be of doubtful mind.  Even on the stormiest of days, He is our ever present help. 

With our focus on Jesus, two important things happen.  1) The things that are around us to scare us or hinder us become insignificant.  2) The vision of Who we are living for and where He is leading us becomes crystal clear.  Through Jesus, we are able to see clearly the path that God has set aside for us before we were even born.  Through Jesus, we find the strength to keep up the good walk of faith when the world distracts us.  Through Jesus, we are able to complete the course that ends in our eternal resting place with Almighty God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us with a unique purpose through which we serve You and bring honor and glory to Your Name.  We rejoice in knowing that we can fulfill our purposes here on earth as well as in Your eternal kingdom.  We exalt the name of Our Savior, Jesus, who walks along side us to insure that we have the strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus so we are not distracted or hindered by the things which are trying to pull us away from our purposes.   May we stand before You one day and hear the words, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Our King, Our Priest and Our Prophet, Jesus Christ.

Learning to Give Sacrificially Every Day

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

The life of Jesus Christ was not the life of a mere man, but the life of a divine man who gave up His deity and His royalty in order to accept the calling of Almighty God to be the blood sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.  Jesus took on this calling freely and voluntarily that He might secure our legal standing in the kingdom of God.

The moment that we accepted the salvation that Jesus made possible when He laid down His life for us, we were given the power and the calling to lay down our lives day after day for the people around us.  This sacrificial calling is contrary to our human nature.  Our flesh will fight us on every occasion, be it large or small, that we seek to emulate Jesus' love for us in our service to others.  And certainly, Satan will do his part to discourage us too.

Yet we can and will overcome the urges of Satan and our flesh, if we learn to rely on the urgings of the Holy Spirit.   For we were not only given the calling to serve, we were also given the power to serve.  We were given the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ to dwell within us.  All we have to do is let the Spirit within us flow out of us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son Jesus to die for us so that we would not remain separated from You for all eternity because of our sins.  We praise Your Name for extending Your mercy so that we could accept the salvation that we did not earn and do not deserve.  We pray, Father God, that the fullness of Your Holy Spirit will flow from us each day.  May we learn to lay down our lives each day so that others may see the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus.  We ask all these things in the name of the Slain Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

No Service is Too Small

2 Chronicles 27:6

King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the LORD his God.

After the Jews were freed from bondage, they made their way to the holy land that God had set aside for them.  Moses sent twelve men to scout the land.  All but two returned with fearful stories.  As a result, the Israelites rebelled against Moses and refused to take the land that was prepared for them.  God punished the Israelites by condemning them to wander the desert for forty years.  None of the men over the age of twenty were ever allowed in to the holy land because of their disobedience.

On the other hand, Jotham became king at the age of 28.  He was obedient in all things.  Because of his faithfulness, he was given victory in all of his battles and a resting place of honor when he died.

We can miss out on the promises of God in our lives simply by not complying to the small things of life that the Holy Spirit may place on our hearts.  How many times have we passed up the opportunity to assist a testy neighbor, lend a helping hand to a needy stranger or respond politely and with love when receiving poor service?  Each time we passed on one of these or numerous other Holy Spirit led opportunities, we deprived God of His glory and we halted or limited the release of His power in our lives.  It is important that we seek and give full consideration to the will of God concerning all elements of our daily lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the opportunity to bring honor and glory to Your Name when we allow the marvel of Your grace to be exhibited in our lives.  Teach us, Father, to recognize You and Your love in the simplest of tasks that are performed in service to others.  Lord, we pray that You release the fullness of Your power in our lives as we learn to share Your perfect love and forgiveness with the world around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Shielding Our Children from the Enemy

Isaiah 44:3

For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields.  And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.

As mothers and fathers, we must be diligent in praying a hedge of protection around our children.  Satan is viciously consistent in his efforts to destroy our families and in his efforts to destroy the lives of our children.  As parents, we have the power of protecting them through our prayers.  Our Heavenly Father promises us that He will pour out His Spirit on our descendants and pour out His blessings on our children.

No matter what circumstances that our children may be in, we must not believe the lies of Satan.  We must hold to the promises of Our Father.  We must never give in to the work of the devil who will urge us to give up on our children.  Satan will do all that he can do to discourage our efforts to pray for our children because he knows the power that we access and release when we pray for our children.

We must fight the good fight on the behalf of our children.  We must continously pray a hedge of protection around them.  The Lord promises us that He will reward us for our efforts.  He will return our children to us.  Most importantly, He will return our children to Himself.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for hearing our prayers of protection for our children.  Thank you for providing a way for us to shield our children from the enemy who is set on destroying them.  Strengthen us, Lord, that we may never falter in covering our children with our prayers.  We rejoice in knowing that You will reward us for our diligent, prayerful efforts on behalf of our children.  We cling to Your promise to return our children to the land that You have set aside for them.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refuge from the Storm, Jesus Christ.

Abiding in the True Vine

John 15:4

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Where do we find ourselves today?  Are we happy with our circumstances?  These questions are irrelevant if we are abiding in Jesus.  If we follow His command to, "Abide in Me.", we will not have a care about where we are, what we are doing or what is going on around us.  In this place of abiding, we will find our lives filled with the perfect joy of the Lord.  Whatever we find ourselves doing will be completely satisfying and will bear much fruit.  What freedom and power we find when we abide in Our Savior!!

On the other hand, if we are leaning on the world or on our own natural abilities, we soon find out how impotent we are.  Just as the passage suggests, we are destined to experience a withering away when we separate ourselves from the True Vine.  We are sure to enter into a poor, fruitless condition.  Why would we ever consider living in any other way except fully dependent on the True Vine.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we bow in awe and wonder before You.  We acknowledge and thank You for the fullness of the joy and the power that we receive when we abide in Your Son.  We pray for the strength to place all of our fears and worries at Your feet.  We ask for the courage to move forward knowing that all things are possible when we place our trust in Our Savior.  May we always seek the grace, nourishment and strength that we need from our all-sufficient source, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His precious, holy and mighty name.